Irving, Texas. - (5/4/2015) – Following a 2-2 week that included a victory over Felician College in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Opening Round tilt, Chestnut Hill College moved up a spot to #6 (38 points) in the final National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) East Region Poll released this morning. The ranking is the best in program history.
 
The Griffins appeared in their seventh straight NCBWA East Region Poll, which placed Chestnut Hill College behind #3 Franklin Pierce University (90 points, 9 first-place votes), #20 Southern New Hampshire University (79), Stonehill College (72), Wilmington University (65), and Dowling College (54) and ahead of Saint Thomas Aquinas College (37), Pace University (27), Bridgeport University (15), and Post University (15). The Griffins had been ranked #7 for three consecutive weeks prior to the latest poll.
 
With the 2015 CACC regular season behind them, Chestnut Hill College welcomed Philadelphia University to Latshaw-McCarthy Field for a late-afternoon contest on Tuesday. After some early fireworks the Griffins stayed hot against the Rams, making efficient use of 13 base hits, seven walks, and two hit batsman in a 12-4 victory. Freshman pitcher Andrew Sibson (Galloway, N.J.) stayed perfect (5-0) while junior first baseman Patrick Campion (Norristown, Pa.) and senior shortstop Preston Koehler (Bath, Pa.) kept the table set with three hits apiece.
 
A late rally fell just short as University of the Sciences (USciences) escaped Latshaw-McCarthy Field with a 7-6 triumph in Wednesday's non-conference contest. Freshman second baseman Alec Craig (Hammonton, N.J.), senior third baseman Taylor Steen (New Egypt, N.J.), and freshman right fielder Patrick Kelley (Pipersville, Pa.) offered multi-hit performances in the Griffins' final tune-up for the CACC Championship Tournament.
 
Four sixth-inning runs, three earned, against senior pitcher Dominic Raia III (Philadelphia, Pa.) was not enough for #6 Felician College to derail the #3 Griffins as Chestnut Hill College provided their ace with plenty of support in an 6-4 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Opening Round triumph on Saturday. Raia struck out a dozen Golden Falcons while junior designated hitter Brendan Looby (Sewell, N.J.), senior right fielder Michael McLaughlin (Philadelphia, Pa.), freshman first baseman Matthew Owens (Cherry Hill, N.J.), and Koehler plated the necessary five runs in the Griffins' first five at-bats against the Golden Falcons.
 
Raia's only hiccup cam in the sixth inning, when the Golden Falcons threated with four runs on four hits, a walk, a wild pitch, and a Griffin error in right field, 5-4. But the Felician College rally was soon squashed as the Griffin ace closed the frame with a grounder to third base before retiring the next seven Golden Falcons in order. In the ninth, a one-out beaning of junior designated hitter Gerard De Filippo (East Hanover, N.J.) made things interesting in the visitor's final at-bat. He moved to second on a pinch-hit single from sophomore Sean Rogers (Kendall Park, N.J.), but no further as Raia went the distance, inducing the final two outs with a fly to left and a grounder back to the mound.

Slagle and Koehler totaled two hits apiece while Owens knocked in two in just his sixth collegiate start. Raia (8-1) allowed three earned runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out 12 Golden Falcons in his program-record eighth win of the season. 
 
A brief interlude in the midst of its CACC Championship Tournament journey, the Chestnut Hill College baseball team challenged itself with a trip to Annapolis, Maryland, on Sunday afternoon for a rendezvous with Division I The United States Naval Academy (Navy). Less than 24 hours removed from a CACC Opening Round triumph over Felician College, the Griffins spotted the host Midshipmen four early runs and fell by a 6-2 count.
 
Chestnut Hill College resumes CACC Championship Tournament action on Thursday, May 7, when the Griffins begin the double-elimination portion of the playoffs against second-seeded Post University. First pitch is slated for noon at Wilmington University's Jim Sherman Sr. Stadium (Wilson Field).