March 31, 2007

Game 1 Box | Game 2 Box

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Franklin & Marshall scored 21 runs between two games, sweeping Muhlenberg in a Centennial Conference double-header on Saturday. The Diplomats won the opener 9-0, and finished the day with a 12-5 win.

Dan Tischler (New York, NY / Horace Mann) scattered four hits over seven innings of work to shut out Muhlenberg and move to 2-0 on the season in the first game.

Rob Stern (Franklin Lakes, NJ / Indian Hills) opened the game with a triple, and became the game-winning run two batters later when Patrick O'Reilly (Mt. Laurel, NJ / Lenape) brought him with a single into left. O'Reilly, Rich Gallugi (Peabody, MA / St. John's Prep), and Jeffrey Rowand (York, PA / Dallastown) each had a pair of hits for the Diplomats. Rowand drove in three runs, while Gallugi and O'Reilly each plated a pair. O'Reilly crossed home three times in the first game.

15 Franklin & Marshall hits and six Muhlenberg errors gave Franklin & Marshall a 12-1 lead midway through the eighth inning. In the bottom half of the frame, the Mules finally got to Rowand, the Diplomats' starter, who finished his day having surrendered five runs, two earned, on five hits and four walks. He struck out four in his seven and a third and picked up his second win of the year. He does not have a loss against him.

Rowand aided his own cause with a 2-for-4 effort at the dish. He scored three times and drove one across. Gallugi was also 2-for-4 in the nightcap with three runs batted in and two scored. Andrew Hanson (Lansdale, PA / Germantown, Acad.) went 3-for-5 scoring twice and driving one run in. Mark Minutaglio also recorded three RBIs in the win.

The sweep runs Franklin & Marhsall's winning streak to three games, getting the Diplomats a game above the .500 mark at 9-8. All three wins were Centennial Conference games, leaving F&M with a 3-1 Conference mark. Muhlenberg drops to 4-12 (1-3 CC). F&M returns to the diamond on Wednesday when the Diplomats host Haverford.