FLEMINGTON, N.J. – Reigning Empire 8 Conference Rookie of the Week
Francis Milone '26 hit the first two home runs of his collegiate career on Thursday as the Elmira College baseball program dropped a pair of two-run decisions against Moravian University at Diamond Nation.
GAME INFORMATION:
SCORE: Elmira 3, Moravian 5 (Game One)
Elmira 4, Moravian 6 (Game Two)
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (1-3), Moravian (2-0)
LOCATION: Flemington, New Jersey | Diamond Nation
W|L|S: D. Ciaccio (1-0) | J. Finnerty (L, 0-1) | E. Weber (1) (Game One)
E. Weber (1-0) | D. Kruis (0-1) | R. Huffman (1) (Game Two)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Soaring Eagles would get a runner into scoring position in the top of the first inning as
Brett Warden '25 delivered a ground-rule double before being left stranded on base. Moravian answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning against Elmira starter
Jack Finnerty '23 to take a 2-0 advantage. Three consecutive singles for the Greyhounds would make it 1-0 before a double with two outs pushed the lead to 2-0.
Elmira responded with a run in the top of the second inning to trim the deficit to 2-1 after stringing together three consecutive hits with a single from
Colin McLaughlin '22 allowing
Nick Lees '25 to score on the play. The difference in the game would turn out to be a 3-run bottom of the second for Moravian as the Greyhounds rallied for back-to-back run-scoring hits with a pair of outs to increase the lead to 5-1.
The Purple & Gold looked to trim the deficit later in the contest as
Francis Milone '26 connected on his first collegiate home run in the top of the fourth inning over the fence in right-center to make it a 5-2 contest.
Ryan Trenholm '25 delivered a run-scoring double down the right field line in the top of the sixth inning as McLaughlin would score to close the gap to 5-3.
Elmira had bases-loaded situations in the top of the fifth inning and top of the seventh inning but would be unable to push across a run in either of the scenarios. Moravian would get an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play to escape the fifth inning and recorded a strikeout to end the contest in the seventh after walking the bases loaded.
Seven different Soaring Eagles recorded a hit in the contest with Milone and McLaughlin each tallying a pair for Elmira. Finnerty took the loss for EC after tossing two innings, while
Kade Cochran '26,
Kyle Tubbs '22,
Nicholas Miller '26, and
Logan Pizzullo '25 combined to keep the Greyhounds scoreless over the final four innings.
Game two would see both teams plate a run in the second inning as
Jarod Signorelli '23 delivered a single that allowed
Mason Ryan '22 to score and make it 1-0. Moravian answered in the bottom of the frame to knot the score with a run against Elmira starter
Jarek Podest '26. The Greyhounds jumped out to a 2-1 advantage in the bottom of the third inning before Milone connected on his second home run of the day for the Purple & Gold to knot the score 2-2 in the fourth.
Moravian regained the lead against the Elmira bullpen as a pair of runs would score in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it 4-2 following a home run and a run-scoring double. The fifth inning would see the Soaring Eagles rally on offense to knot the score 4-4 after back-to-back sacrifice flyouts from
Matteo Salvati '25 and Ryan. Two runs in the bottom of the fifth from the Greyhounds would prove to be the difference as Moravian secured the 6-4 victory to complete the doubleheader sweep.
Podest took a no-decision for Elmira after allowing two runs (one earned) off one hit through three innings of work. Podest tallied a pair of walks while recording four strikeouts before exiting the contest.
David Kruis '23 was handed with the loss after allowing a pair of runs through two innings of work, while
Marco Macri '26 allowed a pair of runs in one inning of relief for Elmira.
UP NEXT:
The Purple & Gold travel to North Carolina for a pair of games on Friday against Alfred State and SUNY New Paltz at 3:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M.
