The Muhlenberg baseball team hit three home runs and led 4-1 in both games of its home-opening doubleheader but came away with two losses.
Two big sixth-inning rallies were the difference as Penn State Abington swept, 8-6 and 8-5.
In the opener, senior
Jon Capra hit a two-out, two-run double in the first and came in on a single by freshman
Thomas Rodgers. A double by junior
John Serruto, one of his three hits in the game, led to a second-inning run that gave the Mules (8-7) a 4-1 lead.Â
The Nittany Lions (7-8) chipped away with single runs in the third and fourth, then took an 8-4 lead by plating five runs in the sixth.
Capra's RBI single and a solo home run by Rodgers, the first of his career, helped Muhlenberg cut the deficit in half, but the game ended with the tying runs on base.
Senior
Matt RiebesellÂ
(pictured above) broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning of the nightcap with his sixth career home run, a two-run blast. Run-scoring doubles by Serruto and senior
Chris Grillo the next inning made it 4-1.
Again the sixth was the Mules' undoing, however, as Penn State Abington scored six runs to take the lead.
Junior
Michael Martinez belted his first career home run in the bottom of the seventh to account for Muhlenberg's final run.Â
Junior
Matthew D'Ambrosia had his season-opening streak of innings pitched without allowing an earned run snapped at 23 in the nightcap. His season ERA soared to 0.73.
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