Gwynedd-Mercy Advances in NCAA Tourney

NEWARK, N.J. (5/15/08) - Junior right-hander Sean Middleton (Perkasie, Pa.) came out the bullpen and allowed a run and scattered five hits over the final six innings as eighth-seeded Gwynedd-Mercy College remained alive in the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional with a 5-3 victory over fourth-seeded Penn State Behrend in Game 5 at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

Nick DiEnno (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Scott Carroll (Churchville, Pa.) each had two hits and drove in a run as the Griffins (22-19) move on in the tournament and will face Rowan University at 1:15 pm on Friday.

Joe Breiter (Finleyville, Pa.) went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI for the Lions, who conclude their season at 34-12. Behrend was making its first appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Behrend took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Dustin Dubensky (Punxsutawney, Pa.) and Adam Martin (Rochester, Pa.) singled with two outs and Geoff Lang  (Pittsburgh, Pa.) walked to load the bases. Breiter then stroked a single to right-center giving the Lions a quick two-run advantage.

Gwynedd-Mercy would get a run back in the bottom of the third as Tim McMenamin (Maple Shade, N.J.) smacked a two-out single to score Mark Mattes (Doylestown, Pa.) cutting the deficit to a run. The Griffins would tie the game an inning later with some more clutch hitting as Mike Albert (Levittown, Pa.) singled and scored as Albert DiDomenico (Philadelphia, Pa.) collected an RBI base hit to left-center.

The Griffins would grab the lead with two runs in the fifth taking advantage of a huge break. Behrend appeared out of the inning 1-2-3 as Andrew Chrobak (New Castle, Pa.) struck out the third hitter. But the ball skipped away allowing Dan Strack (Langhorne, Pa.) to reach first and Gwynedd-Mercy would capitalize as DiEnno cracked a ball off the wall that would score Strack for a 3-2 lead. Carroll followed with a single through the left side as the Griffins led 4-2.

Meanwhile Middleton stabilized the game for Gwynedd-Mercy as he came on in the fourth inning and retired eight of the first nine hitters he faced.  He would allow a run in the seventh as Josh Fyffe (Fredonia, Pa.) collected an RBI single to make the score 4-3. Middleton then pitched out of a second-and-third, no one out jam in the eighth before retiring the side in order in the ninth to preserve the victory.

Steve Sable (Ivyland, Pa.) accounted for the final Griffins run with an RBI ground out in the bottom of the eighth.

Middleton struck out two and walked one as he improved to 11-8 on the season. Chrobak fell to 7-4 as he went eight innings giving up eight hits, fanning five and issuing a walk.

Martin was 2-for-4 for the Lions, who outhit Gwynedd-Mercy, 9-8.