West Seneca, NY – The D'Youville baseball team won their first conference game of the season on Wednesday afternoon by defeating the Hilbert Hawks 6-1 in game one and losing game two 8-4.

Patrick Mulligan (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech) put the first run on the board in a big way with his first career home run, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead. In the next at-bat, Matt Critelli (Camden, NY/Camden) would single to third base and score two batters later on an error, allowing Louis Reynolds (Batavia, NY/Notre Dame) to reach base. Next up was Josh Hammer (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home), who reached on an error as well.

Two batters later, Mitchell Mason (Eden, NY/Eden) walked to load the bases. Up 2-0 with two outs, Justin Brackna (Cheektowaga, NY/Maryvale) reached on an error, scoring Reynolds and making the game 3-0.

The Spartans would tack on another run in the bottom of the third. Mulligan doubled to left center to lead off the inning, followed by a Brendan Burke (Collegeville, PA/Spring-Ford) walk and a Reynolds single. Hammer would then reach on an error, scoring Mulligan and making the score 4-0.

Hilbert would score their first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth to make it 4-1, but D'Youville would get that run back and then some in the bottom of the sixth. Hammer led off the inning with a single, followed by a sac-bunt by Dylan Haak (Depew, NY/Depew). A double to right center from Brackna would score Hammer to make it 5-1, with Travis Macrides (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) singling home Brackna in the next at-bat to make the game 6-1, which would be the final score.

The three-four-five hitters for the Spartans all recorded two hits in the game, with each driving in a run. All but one player recorded a hit for the team in the game, combining for 11 as a team. Mulligan led the team with two runs scored and hit his first career home run.

On the mound, Will Pack (Pendleton, NY/Starpoint) had another outstanding game. The sophomore pitcher went 6.0 innings, striking out four and allowing four hits and one earned run for his third win of the season. In relief, Tyler Siegmann (Wheatfield, NY/Niagara-Wheatfield) pitched a perfect seventh inning by allowing no hits, runs or walks and struck out one.

The Hawks were the first on the board in the second game as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead. D'Youville would respond in the bottom half the inning as Mason doubled with one out. Brackna narrowly missed his first home run of the season on a long double to center, scoring Mason.

In the bottom of the third, Mason and Brackna would combine again for a run. Mason reached on an error, followed by another near home run from Brackna to score Mason and make it a 2-0 game. However the Hawks would score three runs in the bottom of the inning to take their first lead at 3-2.

Despite falling behind, D'Youville was able to get right back in the game in the fifth inning. Haak singled to third with an out in the inning. Brackna then hit his third double of the game and Haak would score on an error. Macrides then singled up the middle to score Brackna and tie the game at 4-4.

A half inning later, Hilbert scored a run to take a 5-4 lead. The Hawks would add three runs in the top of the eighth for an 8-4 lead and they would win by the same score.

Both Brackna and Macrides had a day at the plate, going a combined 7-9 with three RBI. Haak had two hits with Mason scoring two runs. Siegmann made his second appearance of the day in game two by going 2.2 innings, allowing two hits and one earned run. In the final three innings, Haak allowed one hit and three earned runs. Justin Uhteg (Arcade, NY/Pioneer) got the start, going 3.1 innings and striking out two. 

The next game for the Spartans comes tomorrow, April 13 as the host Fredonia for a single game at 3pm.