Gary
Thompson threw his second consecutive two-hit shutout as the
University of the Sciences baseball team won the opening game of
their non-conference doubleheader at Philadelphia University Sunday
afternoon, 2-0. The game was also designated as the semi-final game
of the Bill Giles Invitational Tournament. With the win, the Devils
advance to the championship game at Citizen Bank Park on
Tuesday.
The Devils will face nationally ranked West Chester University
for the Bill Giles Invitational Championship on Tuesday, April 20,
2010 at 4:00 p.m. Tickets are available for $5.00 apiece.
Sciences went on to complete the doubleheader sweep with a 3-2 win
in the nightcap.
Thompson allowed just two singles, one in the third and another
in the fifth en route to extending his scoreless innings streak to
16 innings. In both innings and in the sixth the Rams put runners
in to scoring position only to have Thompson and the Devils defense
shut down their offensive threats. Thompson finished the game with
nine strikeouts while walking three batters.
The Devils got all the offense they would need in the fifth
inning. Nick Szalejko
walked and stole second, advancing to third on a Kyle Davis
single. Davis then stole second. Dustin Gill
then laced a one-out single into right field allowing Szalejko to
score easily. Davis also beat the throw home and Gill was thrown
out at second trying to advance for the second out, but the Devils
now had a 2-0 lead.
The Rams got a runner as far as third in the bottom of the fifth
before Thompson struck out Tyler Mentzer to end the threat.
Philadelphia had just one more baserunner the rest of the way,
reaching on an infield error as the Devils hung on for the 2-0
win.
In the nightcap, the Rams loaded the bases in the first inning
against Sciences starter Jarrad Gustin
but failed to score. Philadelphia finally put a run on the board in
the second inning, taking a 1-0 lead. The Devils retook the lead
with three runs in the top half of the fifth. Mark Perry came
through with a bases-loaded one-out single to score Sciences first
two runs. Pete LaRocco
then walked to load the bases again. Dennis Murphy
then drew a bases-loaded walk to score Mike Gartland
who drew a walk earlier in the inning loading the bases for Perry
and give the Devils a 3-1 lead.
Gustin walked the first three batters in the bottom of the
sixth, prompting a call to the bullpen and Brandon
Boucher. After striking out the first batter he faced, Boucher
gave up a sacrifice fly to Kevin McGovern, making the score 3-2.
Boucher got out of the inning without any further damage and worked
a near-perfect seventh inning to earn his first save of the
season.
The Devils are now 4-28 overall. The Rams fall to 8-18.
