Box Score WEST LAWN, Pa. – Junior
Dan Altavilla did everything he could in game one of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Tournament. However, the Laker offense gave the righthander no margin for error and, unfortunately, those errors came in the seventh.
Mercyhurst mustered eight hits - six infield singles - against two Seton Hill pitchers and some subpar defense in the seventh inning sent the baseball team to a 4-1 loss in the opening round of the regional. Mercyhurst dropped to 30-14 on the season and will look to stave off elimination against the top-seeded Marauders of Millersville on Friday afternoon. Seton Hill improved to 37-15 on the season.
Millersville, which eliminated Mercyhurst from the PSAC Tournament two weekends ago, defeated Kutztown 3-2 in its opening game on Thursday.
As expected, it was a pitching duel between Altavilla and Seton Hill's Mike Bittel with Mercyhurst mustering three hits – two via bunt – and Seton Hill coming up with only two hits through the first six innings.
But, in the bottom of the seventh, the Griffins struck thanks to some disappointing defense. The Lakers, ranked second in the country in fielding percentage, made a mental error and a physical error to allow Seton Hill to take a 1-0 advantage. After Cody Herald led off the inning with a clean single through the right side, an attempted sacrifice bunt by Chris Miller was sent over the head of Altavilla. Third baseman
Brendan Cox fielded the ball on a bounce and would have had a force out at second – had someone been covering the base.
Then, with runners at first and second, a bunt by Matt Malacane went right back to Altavilla. The righthander had a play at third, but sailed the throw off the tip of the glove of Cox and into left field, which allowed Herald to score. After a strikeout, his 11th of the game, Altavilla allowed a one-out, two-run double down the left field line to Garret Vrbanic as the lead ballooned to 3-0. Brendan Costantino followed with a two-out single to score Vrbanic for a 4-0 Seton Hill advantage.
The Lakers responded with a run in the top of the eighth. With one out, an infield single by sophomore
Hank Morrison and a bunt single by junior
Angel Martinez started the rally. After a strikeout of sophomore
Stephen Scaccia, who replaced senior
Anthony Tomasone in the third inning, redshirt junior
Ryan Siegel walked to load the bases with two outs. Cox laced a single back up the middle to drive home the team's first run of the night, cutting the Griffin lead to 4-1.
The hit ended the night for Bittel, who was replaced by PSAC West First Team closer, Jesse Cooper. Cooper got sophomore
Dan Popio to line out to left with the bases loaded to end the frame.
Mercyhurst got two runners on in the ninth on infield singles by juniors
Giancarlo Saia and
Jake Marinelli, but Martinez lined out sharply to first base to close out the night.
The Lakers threatened with back-to-back bunt singles by Martinez and Tomasone with one out in the top of the third inning. But, Bittel retired Siegel and Cox on fly outs to end the rally. The fly outs started a string of 14 consecutive batters retired by Bittel – a string that was snapped by an infield single by sophomore
Hank Morrison to lead off the eighth inning.
The Griffins put together a rally in the sixth when Costantino walked and Anthony Fanelli was plunked by a slider that got away to put runners at first and second for the #3 hitter, Nick Sell. After falling behind on Sell, Altavilla battled back and rung up Sell on a 3-2 fastball down the middle for his tenth strikeout of the night.
Sophomore
Colin McKee pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth inning, but Mercyhurst could not mount a rally in the ninth against Cooper.
Altavilla suffered his first loss of the season, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out 11, extending his school-record total to 129 on the season. He dropped to 9-1 on the year. Bittel, meanwhile, allowed one run on six hits in 7.2 innings to improve to 8-2 on the year. He walked one and struck out five. Cooper picked up his 15th save of the season, allowing two hits in an inning and a third.
Martinez and Saia each had two hits in the loss.
Mercyhurst will meet Millersville at Owls Field in West Lawn, Pennsylvania on Friday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
