The Muhlenberg baseball wrapped up its trip to Florida with two more closely contested games, splitting with RIT.

The Mules (6-7-1) took the second game, 5-3, behind the pitching of freshmen Evan Virno and Joseph Stern, who shut down the Engineers (6-5) except for one swing. One day after walking off in extra innings vs. TCNJ, Muhlenberg got another dramatic late hit in the opener but went on to lose, 4-3, in extra innings.

Facing an RIT pitching staff that came in holding opponents to a .177 team batting average, the Mules managed just 11 hits in the two games, but they stayed competitive by scratching out runs and pitching well.

Virno (pictured above left) made his first career start in the nightcap and worked in and out of trouble, stranding runners in scoring position in each of the first four innings. He got out of a second-and-third, one-out jam in the first with a popout and a strikeout, threw out the lead runner on a bunt attempt in the second and struck out a pinch-hitter with runners on second and third to end the fourth.

After yielding a three-run homer in the fifth, Virno gave way to Stern (pictured above right), who was making his first varsity appearance in 16 days. Protecting a one-run lead, the southpaw ran into immediate trouble in the sixth, with the Engineers putting runners at the corners with nobody out. After a sacrifice moved the potential go-ahead run into scoring position, Stern retired the top two hitters in the order on a called third strike and a routine fly ball to center. 

RIT got two runners on in the seventh, but Stern nailed down his first career save with a strikeout and an infield popout.

The Mules opened the scoring in the third after senior Christian Schwarz was hit by a pitch for the third consecutive at-bat. He stole second and scored on a double by senior Jake Swerdloff.

A two-out RBI single by junior Jonathan Toth, an infield single by Schwarz and a bases-loaded hit batsman brought in three more runs in the top of the fourth, extending the lead to 4-0.

Senior Caleb Tereska doubled with two out in the seventh and scored a big insurance run on an error.

In the opening game, consecutive RBI hits by Swerdloff (double) and sophomore Aidan Legner (single) in the first gave the Mules a 2-1 lead. They trailed, 3-2, however, when they came to bat in the bottom of the seventh. Tereska singled with one out and was still on second one out later when Toth came to the plate. He fell behind 0-2 and fouled off three two-strike pitches before hitting a long double that brought in Tereska with the tying run.

Muhlenberg narrowly missed walking off on the next batter, as junior Nick Stannard hit a line drive right at the second baseman.

RIT scored once in the top of the eighth, and the Mules went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning.

Junior Ryan Friesen pitched five solid innings in the opener, allowing only one earned run and striking out 6.

Muhlenberg's eight Spring Break games were decided by a total of 22 runs.