Szumigala’s CACC Rookie of the Week Award Headlines Griffins Successes on League’s Final Weekly Release
New Haven, Conn. – (5/10/2016) – Ending the regular season on both ends of one-sided games, Chestnut Hill College offered a trio of student-athletes to the final installment of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Baseball Weekly Report. Among them, freshman third baseman Zach Szumigala (Fairless Hills, Pa.) stood out as the league’s Rookie of the Week; sophomore pitcher Matthew Kress (Lansdale, Pa.) and senior catcher Robert Slagle III (Plymouth Whitemarsh, Pa.) were both recognized on the CACC Weekly Honor Roll.
The rain stopped just in time to get in today’s non-conference game at Philadelphia University. Chestnut Hill College wasted no time putting bat to ball as they knocked the Rams around for eight runs in their first three at-bats. Meanwhile Kress struck out 11 in six innings for his fourth win (4-3) of the season, 17-7. Six Griffins had multi-hit performances, most notable was sophomore designated hitter Matthew Owens (Cherry Hill, N.J.) who was 4-for-5 with an eighth-inning, leadoff home run that served as the exclamation point in a performance that produced five of the Griffins’ 17 runs. Slagle was 3-for-4 including a second-inning, two-run home run. Szumigala was 3-for-5 including a third-inning, two-run triple.
Getting in some extra swings before the beginning of the CACC Championship Tournament, the Chestnut Hill College baseball team visited the United States Naval Academy (Navy) for Sunday afternoon's contest. The Midshipmen scored 11 runs between the third and seventh innings, connecting for 15 hits against the Griffin bullpen and rendering a second-inning, run-scoring single from junior centerfielder Joseph Monaghan (Doylestown, Pa.) as the Scarlet and Gold's only success in a 13-1 final. Kress threw two innings (5H, 4ER, 1BB, 1K) of relief while Slagle and Szumigala combined for three (3-for-8) of the Griffins’ eight hits.
Chestnut Hill College now prepares for postseason play as they join the CACC elite at Wilmington University's Wilson Field on Thursday, May 12, for the double-elimination round of the CACC Championship Tournament.