Late Comeback Lifts Cardinals Over Stevenson
Second baseman Ryan Tracy went 5-5 to will his team to victory. Courtesy of CatholicAthletics.com
By Jared Prenda
An eighth inning rally helped the Catholic University baseball team overcome three run deficits and brought its record to 22-9 (9-6). The team sits on top of the Landmark Conference thanks to a tiebreaker over the Moravian Greyhounds, whose overall record sits at 16-15 (9-6). The Cardinals triumphed over the Stevenson Mustangs 10-6 in the road non-conference matchup, making it their 3rd win in their last 4 games.
The Cards got behind early in the game, giving up one run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning. They managed to jump out to a one run lead of their own at the top of the second inning, when catcher Will Pyne drove in sophomore Connor Cozad on a fielder’s choice and then scored on a single to center from second basemen Ryan Tracy.
Tracy would go 5-for-5 on the day, hitting two doubles, driving in 4 RBIs, and scoring twice.
Stevenson managed to regain the lead by scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the third to make the game 4-2. Catholic would go on to grab one more run in the fourth before Stevenson scored 2 more in the fifth to make the game 6-3 until the fireworks of the eighth frame began.
Cozad began the inning with a walk off single to right, forcing the first of 2 pitching changes made by the Mustangs in the inning. Classmate Connor Sullivan reached first on a bunt and ran safe to second on a throwing error by the second baseman, which allowed Cozad to score from first. Junior catcher Sean Dempsey also reached on a bunt to set up a 2 RBI double from Tracy. A single from senior Jake Crist drove in 2 runs to give Catholic the go ahead lead of 8-6.
Tracy was not the only standout batting performance for CUA as Crist and junior outfielder Bailey Lewis each had 2 RBIs on the night while Sullivan went 3-for-5 at the plate.
CUA would score twice more in the top of the ninth when Tracy scored his final RBI on a double and was scored on a single from Lewis, making the final score 10-6.
The Cardinals’ baseball team returns to action this coming weekend as it hosts Juniata College for a three-game series. The Saturday, April 21st game is set to begin at 12:30 PM while the final leg on Sunday begins at noon. This is the final Landmark Conference series of the season for the team and could secure homefield advantage throughout the post-season with multiple wins.
