03/01/2009
Baseball Splits A Pair Against Muhlenberg

WINTER HAVEN, FLA. 3/1/09 - Senior pitcher Greg Long (Milford, Mass.) notched his first win of the season and freshmen Jeremy Garber (Amherst, Mass.) and Mitch DeLorenzo (Berlin, Conn.) collected three hits and two RBI, respectively, to lead the Clark University baseball team to its first win of the season with a 7-6 victory over Muhlenberg College (Pa.) in the opening game of a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon.

Clark took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning, where the Cougars then ignited for three more runs for a 7-1 advantage. Junior Steve DeMartino (East Haven, Conn.), DeLorenzo and senior Matt Tillo (Osterville, Mass.) smacked RBI singles in the frame.

Muhlenberg chipped away with three runs in the sixth and a pair in the seventh before Clark closer Dave Gagnon pitched his way out of the jam to end the inning. The senior pitcher from Harwich, Mass. retired the first two batters on strikeouts then yielded three hits, including two run-producing hits, and a wild pitch, but recovered to get a fielder's choice groundout to end the threat.

Long earned the victory after allowing four earned runs and 11 hits while striking out five for Clark.

Gerber had three hits to lead Clarks 10-hit attack. DeLorenzo had two hits and two RBI.

The Cougars (1-5) dropped the nightcap, 12-8.

Tied 3-3, Muhlenberg exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 7-3 lead. Clark got three runs back in the top of the fifth when Scott Hollingsworth (Tilton, N.H.) cracked his first homerun of the season - a two run blast to right - and Tillo hit an RBI groundout to trail by four (10-6).

Senior John Kalis gave the Mules a little more cushion when he knocked a two-run triple for a 12-6 lead in the bottom of five. Clark came back to score two more runs (8-12) on Ben Seel's (Belgrade, Maine) RBI hit in the sixth, but thats as close as they would get.

Freshman Mike Lamothe (Bellingham, Mass.) took the loss on the mound. He gave up six runs (three earned) on six hits with three walks and one strikeout in his three innings.

Clark is off until Wednesday, when they play Moravian College in a double header at Noon.