Karahalis Blanks Hazleton; Lions Roll To Sweep

MEDIA, Pennsylvania -- Andrew Karahalis (Ridley, Pa./Ridley) entered the final inning with a no-hitter, but had to settle for a two-hit shutout to lead Penn State Brandywine to a 7-0 victory over Penn State Hazleton in its doubleheader opener on Monday afternoon. The Lions cruised to an 11-1 win in game two, sweeping the PSUAC baseball twinbill.

Karahalis had surrendered just two walks prior to the seventh inning, when a leadoff single up the middle broke up his no-hit bid. He struck out six in 7.0 innings of work to pick up his second victory of the season. Karahalis retired 12-straight batters between the third and sixth innings and fanned the side during the sixth.

Dan McMenamin's (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) RBI double started a three-run third inning for Brandywine. Three batters later, McMenamin came around to score following Evan Cline's (Swarthmore, Pa./Strath Haven) base hit and Gabe Encarnacion (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) stole home with the final run of the frame.

McMenamin added a two-run base hit in during his next at-bat and Chris Keenan (Chester, Pa./Strath Haven) and John Gorgone (Ridley, Pa./Ridley) both drove in runs during the fifth inning to cap the scoring.

McMenamin recorded two of Brandywine's seven hits, while Cline and Keenan both stole two bases.

After Hazleton scored a first-inning run in game two, Brandywine answered with three unearned runs during the bottom of the frame thanks to four Hazleton errors.

Brandywine put the game away by pushing eight more runs across in the second as McMenamin's run-scoring single started a string of seven consecutive hits for the Lions. Encarnacion followed with a two-RBI double and came around to score on Cline's single.

After Cline stole second, Keenan drove him in with a base hit and Pat O'Neill (Ridley, Pa./Ridley) connected on a double to left-center field that scored Keenan.

Gorgone ended the eight-run outburst with a two-run home run to left field, his first of the season.

Troy Mucchetti (Haverford, Pa./Haverford) pitched the first three innings to earn the victory, while Matt Gallo (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) and Frank Newman (Ridley, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) both tossed scoreless innings in relief.

Encarnacion recorded two hits, three RBI and scored twice to pace the offense.

Brandywine (9-10, 4-0 PSUAC) continues conference play Saturday at Penn State York (2:00 pm).