North Wales, Pa. - (5/8/2021) – Braving a wet and chilly spring evening, the Hostelley Field faithful were treated to a thriller. #4S Chestnut Hill College recovered from a top-of-the-ninth #5S the University of the Sciences (USciences) grand slam with three – unearned - two-out runs, before walking off the 2021 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Baseball Championship Tournament Opening Round contest with a 10^th-inning sacrifice fly from freshman shortstop Nick Delacruz (South Brunswick, N.J.); 11-10. Junior first baseman Andrew Dietz (Warrington, Pa.) was 3-for-6 with a run-batted-in (RBI), while senior second baseman Patrick Meenan (Oreland, Pa.) was 2-for-5 with a leadoff home run in the second inning and a two-out, RBI double in the fifth. Sophomore Dan Rockenbach (Holland, Pa.) earned the win (5-0) with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief; he struck out all four batters that he faced.
 
USciences (9-15) made Chestnut Hill College (18-13) uneasy with three runs in the top of the first inning, 3-0. The Griffins got two runs back in the bottom of the second inning thanks to Meenan's lead off home run and the hustle of freshman centerfielder R.J. Huth (Fairless Hills, Pa.), 3-2. Each side added a tally in the third inning, 4-3, before the Scarlet and Gold tied the contest on Meenan's fifth-inning double, 4-4. But the Devils got the led back with a leadoff, inside-the-park home run in the sixth, 5-4. Freshman third baseman Greg Sylvester (Trevose, Pa.) tied it again with a home run to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning, 5-5, and the Griffins grabbed the lead a couple outs later with an RBI-single from Dietz, 6-5.
 
Chestnut Hill College extended their lead in the seventh inning with a two-out single from junior shortstop Nate O'Donnell (Hatfield. Pa.), 7-5. Unfortunately, the Devils got a run back in the top of the eighth inning, 7-6, and crushed the Griffins' momentum with a ninth-inning grand slam, 10-7. But in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Scarlet and Gold's two-out rally included a beaning of Huth, a Sylvester single, a USciences error, an RBI single from freshman left fielder Zach Ahmed (Las Vegas, Nev.), and a bases-loaded walk to junior catcher Sam Barletta (Royersford, Pa.), 10-10. In the 10^th inning, another Devil error allowed Dunnuck to reach second. He was joined on base with walks to Meenan and Huth, leaving Delacruz to play the hero, 11-10.    
 
Chestnut Hill College advances to the CACC Baseball Quarterfinals as they will travel to #1S Goldey-Beacom on Monday, May 10, for a 2:00 p.m. contest.