Cardinals Score Three Times in Eighth, Rally Past McDaniel, 7-6

Cardinals Score Three Times in Eighth, Rally Past McDaniel, 7-6

(April 28, 2010) – Catholic University went to Westminster, Md., Wednesday and returned with momentum.

The Cardinals (21-12) tuned up for their important regular-season-closing three-game conference series this weekend by rallying past McDaniel College, 7-6, at Preston Field.

The Cards scored three runs in the eighth inning on two hits and one McDaniel error to erase a 6-4 deficit. Eamonn Burke singled in Tommy Little with CUA’s second run and pinch hitter Mark Kalokitis drew an RBI walk to plate the winning run.

Billy Robbett (2-1) pitched two-thirds of an inning and picked up the victory. Mike Bzozowski got the final five outs in order to notch his team-high sixth save. The senior sidearm specialist induced three ground outs – including two to himself – and a fly out, while striking out one.

Burke was 2-for-4 and knocked in three runs, including a two-run homer in the fifth to stake the Cardinals to a 3-1 lead. The Green Terror (9-19) tied it in the home half of the inning and went ahead 6-4 with three runs in the seventh.

McDaniel finished the season with its fourth straight one-run loss.

L.J. Travaglia and Dave Grear rapped three hits apiece to account for six of CUA’s 10 hits.

Andrew Worm paced the Green Terror’s 10-hit attack by going 3-for-3. Russell Coover was 2-for-5 and finished his career with a school-record 145 hits. Chris Zimmerman went 2-for-4 and scored a run. Matthew Pace’s two-run double to center in the seventh put his club ahead by two.

The Landmark Conference-leading Cardinals play at second-place Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa., on Saturday and Sunday. With a two-game conference lead, the Redbirds need to win once in the three-game set to capture the Landmark regulars-season crown. The champion also hosts the four-team conference tournament, May 7-9.

Saturday’s doubleheader begins at noon and Sunday’s contest start at 11 a.m. Moravian is 20-12 overall and plays at Montclair (N.J.) State on Thursday.