By Justin Lemanski, ahletics reporter
The Fighting Saints baseball team had a busy weekend with five games on the road against Fisher and Briarcliffe. The Saints returned home with a 3-2 record. The Lady Saints softball team had games postponed due to rain following last weekend’s games against Penn State-Schuylkill and Penn State-Hazelton. The Lady Saints were able to sweep Schuylkill, but ended the weekend with two losses against Hazelton.
Also this week, Fighting Saints pitcher Bill Brancatella was named United States Collegiate Athletic Association Player of the Week.
April 10
The Fighting Saints defeated Fisher College 7-1 with a brilliant performance by Saints pitcher Alan Madsen, who threw a nine inning complete game, only allowing five hits, one walk, and one earned run, while fanning eleven batters. The Saints offense was ignited in the sixth inning from an RBI triple by Jason Osborne, followed by hits from Justin Lemanski and Colin Mcleod. The Saints went on to add four insurance runs in the ninth inning from a clutch two-out hit with the bases loaded by Tyler Pavone.
April 11
The Saints lost two close games against Fisher 4-2. In the first game, Jovan Henriquez got the start on the mound for the Saints and went five innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits while striking out four. The Saints captured an early 1-0 lead, but were unable to complete the comeback once Fisher took a 4-1 lead heading into the fifth inning. In the second game, Ryan Cummings got the start for the Saints and had a rough time, giving up four runs in the first inning. Derek Osbourne took over for Cummings going 5 scoreless innings giving the Saints a chance to get back in the game. The Saints cut the lead to 4-2 in the sixth inning, but were unable to push across any more runs.
April 12
The Saints took on Briarcliffe and were able to come out with a two game sweep, 5-1 and 17-2. Bill Brancatella went the distance in game one only allowing one run on three hits while fanning eleven. The Saints were able to add three runs in the seventh inning to bring the lead from 2-1 to 5-1, while Brancatella was able to close the game out in the bottom of the inning for a 7-1 victory. Tyler Kunzmann led the offense with three hits and two RBI’s. In the second game, Brett Paterson started for the Saints and was able to throw six innings without allowing an earned run. The Saints offense exploded with 19 hits and 17; Felipe Vargas led the Saints with four hits and two RBI’s, while Jason Osborne and Tommy Grant added two hits each.
