Greenville, PA- The Mount Aloysius Baseball team braved chilly conditions to sweep a doubleheader against Thiel College on Sunday by scores of 2-1 and 8-3. 

Game 1 was a pitchers duel that saw junior Michael McCourt (Mullica Hill, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) take the hill for the Mounties. McCourt had an efficient day as he was able to keep the Tomcats scoreless through the first 4 innings as the Mountie offense was finding its feet. He finished with 5 innings pitch allowing 1 earned run on 5 hits, one walk and one hit batter. 

The Mounties were only able to muster 4 hits in the game, however they were able to find them when it counted. In the 4th inning, senior Daniel Singer (St. Mary's, PA/Elk County Catholic) looped a single into left field with one out in the frame. After a sacrifice bunt moved Singer into scoring position, the Mounties drew consecutive walks by Sam Keibler (Kittaning, PA/Kittaning) and Nicholas Belka (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) to load the bases. Designated Hitter Matthew Brown (Hustontown, PA/Forbes Road) came through with a clutch two out hit, driving a ball down the 3rd base line for a 2 RBI double. 

Mount Aloysius was unable to tack any runs on, however it would not be needed as Nick Lagnese (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) pitched the final two innings to slam the door shut for his first save of the season. He allowed 1 hit in his two innings of work, striking out two and finishing the game with a 1-2-3 7th inning. McCourt picked up his 2nd win of the year, moving his record to 2-0. Keibler and shortstop Jeremy Iellimo (Arnold, Pa/Valley) collected the other two hits for the Mounties.

The Mounties did not take as long to get their offense going in the second game of the day, as they took advantage of 10 Thiel walks to jump start their offense to an 8-3 victory. The Mounties scored 2 runs in the first as the inning started with 2 walks. After a passed ball, they would push the runs across on a sacrifice fly from Iellimo and an infield single from Keibler. They doubled their lead in the second, using 2 walks and 2 infield singles to score the runs. Freshman Tyler Suder (Boswell, PA/North Star) drove in the first with his first collegiate hit, as he beat out an infield single. 

Mountie starter Cole Funk (Fort Loudon, PA/Fannett Metal) had trouble with his command as he allowed a double and 2 walks to load the bases early. Aaron Shinn (Woodbridge, VA/CD Hylton) was brought in early, and quickly struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam. Shinn would last 3 and 1/3 innings, and gave up 3 runs. He was replaced in the 4th inning by Alex Arone (Homer City, PA/Homer Center) when the tying run made it to first base. Arone would give up a single allowing one run to score, but was able to get out of the jam without any further damage. 

Mount Aloysius responded after Arone got out of the inning, and scored 4 runs in the top of the 5th. They used 3 hits and 4 free passes to score the run. Singer and Iellimo got the rally started with back to back singles, and Keibler was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Belka then executed a squeeze bunt to score the first run. The next two Mountie batters, Brown and Joe Hudak (Central City, PA/Shanksville-Stonycreek) walked in two more runs and Alan Mackey (Altoona, PA/Altoona) beat out a potential inning ending double play ball to allow the final run to score.

Arone and Cameron Domblisky (Phillipsburg, Pa/Phillipsburg-Osceola) combined to throw the final three and a third without giving up a run to finish the game. They each threw an inning and two thirds with Arone allowing 4 hits and Domblisky allowing just 1. Shinn picked up his second win of the year for his relief performance. 

The Mounties (9-4) are scheduled to open their home slate with a doubleheader against Wilson College on Tuesday. Game 1 of the twin bill will start at 1:00 PM with the second game starting at approximately 3:30.