By Joseph Caruso
Sports Editor
The College’s baseball team defeated Immaculata in 25-17 on Tuesday, marking just their second win in nine tries.
After vaulting themselves back above .500 with a record of 11-9, a combination of a tough schedule and lackluster pitching has seen the Lions drop seven of their last eight heading into Tuesday.
Frequently allowing double digit runs, the College will have to tighten up their pitching and defense if they want any chance of rattling off a win streak. With that being said, their 25-17 victory, which looks like a typo, is more than likely going to be a difficult result to replicate.
Immaculata hasn’t had the best season themselves, heading into the matchup just 10-15 with pitching problems of their own. The Lions fell behind early, allowing the first run of the game on a passed ball.
There were several defensive miscues on each side of this game, with a total of nine errors between the two teams, which was a partial reason for the mind-boggling 42 total runs scored.
In the top of the second, the Lions quickly struck back with an RBI single from junior Braden Dromboski to even the game at one. That was the first of six RBIs from Drombooski on the day.
The College relinquished the lead almost immediately, surrendering multiple runs in the bottom of the second as they fell behind 3-1. The Lions had 11 different pitchers pitch, hurling a total of 218 pitches for the game, compared to 235 for Immaculata.
The College erupted for the first of many times in the top of the third, including a two run single from Dromboski that was part of a six run inning, putting the College back in front 7-3, a lead they would not surrender.
Immaculata would score twice in the bottom half of the inning to make it closer, but another two runs from the Lions in the top of the fourth as Drombooski cashed in a two run double, his fifth RBI in four innings to that point.
Dromboski set his career-high with four hits, six RBIs and three runs scored, as he improved his batting average to .271 on the year.
Winning by four runs in the top of the fifth, the Lions continued to pull away with a huge three run triple from sophomore Chris Salmon, putting them ahead 14-7. A Dromboski home run later that inning increased the lead to nine.
As a part of a seven run ninth inning, Dromboski came around to score on a double from senior Jack O’Donnell. Junior Jake Carter capped things off with a two run double to give the Lions a ridiculous total of 25 runs for the game, as they took home the victory 25-17.
In a total team effort, the Lions had 20 hits, with eight different Lions recording a multi-hit game. The College, now 13-17, will aim to carry this momentum for the rest of the season, although they will need their pitching to step up, unless they intend to score 25 runs per game for the next couple of weeks.
The College is back in action against No. 6 ranked Rowan on Thursday, April 16.
