Acorn

The Drew baseball team�s pitching and fielding failed to compliment a strong hitting performance as they fell to Muhlenberg College on March 22. The Rangers out-hit the Mules 15-13, but the defense allowed 10 runs and had four errors, falling 10-9 in the eighth inning when the game was called due to darkness.

Juniors Matt Hicks and Matt Vickers led the Rangers at the plate with three hits apiece. Sophomore Dante LaPenta and junior Joe Cardinale and seniors Joe Henrikson and Tom Caracciolo each registered two hits.

The Rangers fell into a hole in the first inning when starting pitcher sophomore Matt Levine allowed 6 runs on 8 hits. He was replaced by junior Brett Silverstein, who allowed three runs in three innings, two of which were unearned. Senior captain Nick Angelo finished the game with the strongest showing of the night, allowing one run on three hits in three innings pitched.

Earlier in the week, Drew returned to campus after a successful spring break to face Madison rival Farleigh Dickinson University-Florham. Drew lost two games in the three-game series but kept every game close.

The Rangers stole the first game from the Devils in the ninth inning. Vickers� sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning drove Hicks home and gave the Rangers a one-run lead. The Devils got up to bat with a chance to tie it but couldn�t overcome strong relief pitching from freshman Zach Bircks. Bircks pitched four innings and allowed no runs.

�[Bircks] kept himself composed,� junior John Murelli said. �He held himself together really well for a freshman, especially in our first big game of the year.�

In the second game, junior Justin Distler pitched outstandingly, but the Rangers fell on two errors in the seventh inning. Distler allowed only one earned run on five hits. However, the Rangers hit poorly from start to finish and couldn�t capitalize on his performance.

FDU won the third game 8-3 as the Rangers once again couldn�t find their groove at the plate. Drew�s record now stands at 1-2 in conference play.

Before the FDU games, the team got off to a bright start this season as they hit the sunny diamonds of Clearwater, Fla. for a spring break tournament. Going 3-5 on the week, the Rangers saved the best for last with a 21-9 pounding of Webster College last Friday.

Drew also began the tournament strong before slumping mid-week. Woodrow earned the first win of the year over Anne Marie College. He pitched a complete game and struck out nine batters. Hendrickson led the Rangers at the plate, going 3-4. Cardinale added three hits of his own, and sophomore Larry Canales contributed two.

Following the 18-2 Anne Marie victory, the Rangers suffered three straight losses at the hands of Husson College, Mount Saint Joseph�s College and Skidmore College. However, Drew received some outstanding play from Cardinale who had seven hits in the three losses.

The Rangers rallied in the bottom end of a double-header with Skidmore as Bircks took the mound in his first collegiate start. Senior Matt Moss finished the game and earned the 4-3 win.

Dickinson College and Colby-Sawyer College both handed Drew losses in its next two games, by scores of 5-9 and 3-4. Again, Cardinale lit it up from the plate with two hits in each game. He is hitting .611 on the season.

The week came to a close with the Rangers� romp over Webster. Cardinale went 5-5 in the game and sparked strong hitting from the rest of his teammates. Henrikson and Canales each went 4-6 and Bircks, Vickers, Caracciola and sophomore James Soldo added three hits each. Junior John Murelli pitched six innings and earned the win.

The players believe fans should expect a lot more from the Rangers in the future. �There�s a lot of potential that hasn�t been realized,� Murelli said. �Our record doesn�t demonstrate how well we can do.�

�We have a young team, for the most part, and we just haven�t meshed yet,� Hendrickson said. �Except for a couple of games, we haven�t put a lot of hits together when we needed them.�

With a little more experience under their belts, the Rangers face Wilkes College at home today at 3 p.m. in another conference match-up.

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