The Muhlenberg baseball team came back four times to defeat The College of New Jersey, 7-6, in the first game of a doubleheader in Florida. The Lions took the second game, 8-2.

In the opener, the Mules (5-6-1) trailed 2-0 in the middle of the fifth, 4-2 in the middle of the sixth, 5-4 in the middle of the seventh and 6-5 in the middle of the ninth. The first three times, they tied the score in the bottom half of the inning. 

Junior Nick Stannard, a pinch-hitter, reached first on an error to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Senior Jake Swerdloff and sophomore Aidan Legner followed with well-placed sacrifice bunts, and both times the TCNJ pitcher threw the ball away.

That set up sophomore Brendan Hughes with the bases loaded and nobody out, and he delivered after falling behind 0-2, lining a double into the gap in right-center to easily score sophomore Brendan Bussiere (pinch-running for Stannard) and Swerdloff with the tying and winning runs.
 

🚨WALKOFF!!!🚨

Brendan Hughes doubles in two runs in the bottom of the 9th to give #Muhlenberg baseball a 7-6 win vs. TCNJ in the first game of a doubleheader!!#CentConf #d3baseball @d3baseball @mulesbsb pic.twitter.com/RPCVW13hur

— Muhlenberg Athletics (@Muhl_Sports) March 17, 2023

The walkoff hit by Hughes was the first by a Mule in an extra-inning non-conference game since 2015, but it was hardly the lone dramatic hit for Muhlenberg. Junior Jonathan Toth blasted a long two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, his 13th career round-tripper, to get the Mules on the board. Pictured above, Toth (8) is greeted by senior Christian Schwarz and junior Jeff Kent following his home run.

Senior Caleb Tereska lined a two-run double down the line with two outs in the sixth to tie the game at 4-4, and Legner's one-out single brought in Kent with the tying run in the bottom of the seventh.

Sophomore Ethan Brochin pitched the final three innings in relief to earn his first career win. 

Muhlenberg jumped on top in the second game when Kent reached on an error to lead off and scored on a double by Schwarz, but TCNJ took the lead for good with a three-run second.

Swerdloff hit a triple in the third to drive in the Mules' other run.

Schwarz, back from injury and playing for the first time since the first game of the season, went 5-for-6 with a double, triple, two walks and a stolen base in the two games.