Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Lyndhurst, N.J. - (4/9/2015) – Opportunism was the operative word as the Chestnut Hill College baseball team took advantage of a litany of miscues by Felician College to earn a critical sweep of the defending Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) champions in a doubleheader dripping with playoff implications. The Griffins rode the right arm of senior pitcher Dominic Raia III (Philadelphia, Pa.) to a 6-3 decision in game one, while four Golden Falcon balks and two ill-timed errors allowed the visitors to steal the nightcap, 5-2, and stretch their winning streak to six games with two runs in the eighth and ninth innings.
 
Despite allowing a mere two hits in six strong innings, junior pitcher Zachary Crim (Horsham, Pa.) still exited to a 2-1 deficit thanks to Felician College (13-19, 7-5) sophomore right fielder Andrew LaMura (Brick, N.J.), who drove in a run with a triple before scoring on the back-end of a double steal, 2-1, in the fourth. The dam finally broke for Chestnut Hill College (18-7, 11-3) in the top of the eighth, when a one-out infield single by sophomore center fielder Brandon DiBona (Southampton, Pa.) set the stage for a wild sequence. He advanced to second on a balk, then to third on another after a walk to freshman second baseman Alec Craig (Hammonton, N.J.). Junior left fielder Joseph Monaghan (Doylestown, Pa.) plated DiBona (3-for-4) with a two-out infield single, and Craig came around with the go-ahead tally when the shortstop's throw got away, 3-2.
 
Junior catcher Robert Slagle III (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) started the ninth with a triple to right center, and senior left fielder Michael McLaughlin (Philadelphia, Pa.) scored pinch-runner Demetrius Isaac (Philadelphia, Pa.) with a sacrifice fly, 4-2. Senior shortstop Preston Koehler (Bath, Pa.) then walked, stole second, and went to third on an errant throw to set up senior third baseman Taylor Steen (New Egypt, N.J.) for another sacrifice fly, 5-2. Sophomore Austin DiBonaventure (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.) stranded a runner on third in a scoreless seventh to earn the win (3-2), while freshman Patrick Kelley (Pipersville, Pa.) worked the eighth and senior closer Vincent Manzella (Matawan, N.J.) navigated a two-on, none-out jam in the ninth to nail down his fourth save.
 
Aggressive base-running helped the Griffins take advantage of several Felician College miscues in the opener. Junior designated hitter Brendan Looby (Sewell, N.J.) drew a one-out walk in the fourth, advanced to second on a balk, and came around on a throwing error during an attempted steal, 1-0. The Griffins pushed the envelope in the following frame, when Kelley led off with a single and swiped second. DiBona reached on a fielder's choice, and both runners moved up on a passed ball before a sacrifice fly by Craig and an RBI single off the bat of Steen provided a 3-0 advantage. A single and a wild pitch preceded Looby's run-scoring grounder, 4-0. Two more steals led to two runs in the sixth, helped along by consecutive errors and another wild pitch, 6-0.
 
Taking a one-hitter into the ninth, Raia finally ran into trouble when a single, walk, and hit batsman loaded the bases with nobody out. A fielder's choice and wild pitch made it 6-2 before Raia surrendered a run-scoring single by freshman third baseman Bruce Strickland (Hazlet, N.J.), which brought the tying run to the plate and chased the Griffin ace. But Manzella needed only one pitch to douse the fire, inducing a game-ending pop-up, 6-3.
 
Steen and McLaughlin each went 2-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base for Chestnut Hill College in game one, while Looby drew three walks and scored twice. Kelley joined that trio with a stolen base, helping to force Felician College into three errors; the Golden Falcons also had a passed ball and two wild pitches. Raia allowed three hits and four walks with 10 strikeouts, his fourth game with double-digit whiffs, in collecting his 20^th career win (4-1).
 
Felician College committed five errors in addition to two wild pitches, one passed ball, and five balks on the day; six of the Griffins' 11 combined runs were unearned. With the sweep, Chestnut Hill College gained the inside track to the number two seed in the CACC behind undefeated Wilmington University.
 
The Griffins break from CACC play to host Briarcliffe College (NY) in a 12:00 p.m. twin bill on Saturday, April 11.