WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross baseball team outlasted Dartmouth in a 16-10 slugfest on Wednesday, April 3.

STATS LEADERS:

• Austin Masel (3-for-4, double, triple, four RBI)
• Andrew Selima (1-for-1, double, two RBI)
• Evan Blum (1-for-2, two RBI)
• David Kale (2-for-6, double, three runs scored)
• Nate Wolf (1-for-1, double, two RBI)
• Ben Malgeri (2-for-4, double, RBI)
• C.J. McKennitt (W, 2.2 IP, three strikeouts, 1-for-2, two RBI)
• Kyle Johnson (2.0 IP, one hit, one strikeout)
• Luke Dawson (1.2 IP, four strikeouts)

W: C.J. McKennitt (1-4)
L: Trystan Sarcone (0-2)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Dartmouth put three runs on the board in the top of the first, but Holy Cross put one run up in the bottom half of the inning.
• Holy Cross loaded the bases with no outs in the second after a walk by senior third baseman Alex Gionis and back-to-back singles from freshman catcher Angelo D'Acunto and junior shortstop Chris Rinaldi. Freshman right-handed pitcher C.J. McKennitt was hit by a pitch to bring Holy Cross within a run at 3-2, and sophomore first baseman Andrew Selima followed with a two-RBI double to give the Crusaders the lead for good. Junior center fielder Austin Masel then hit an RBI single and freshman right fielder Ben Malgeri had an RBI double to put Holy Cross up 6-3.
• McKennitt scored D'Acunto with a single up the middle in the third inning to push the lead to 7-3.
• Dartmouth cut within 7-5 with a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but Holy Cross blew the lead open with a six-run fifth. Masel had a triple that scored Selima and D'Acunto, and sophomore second baseman Peter Dudunakis punched a single up the middle to give Holy Cross a 10-5 lead. Rinaldi had a bases-loaded walk to add another run, and following a pitching change by the Big Green, sophomore Evan Blum had a pinch-hit single that scored two more runs to put Holy Cross up 13-5.
• Dartmouth had a solo homer to get one run back in the sixth, but sophomore left fielder David Kale led off the bottom of the sixth with a double, and Masel hit another double to bring Kale home.
• The Big Green had another solo home run in the seventh to make it a 14-7 game.
• After junior first baseman Alex Volpi and Kale reached on back-to-back errors, freshman Nate Wolf had a pinch-hit double to score both and put Holy Cross up 16-7.
• Dartmouth put up three runs in the top of the ninth, but that was all the Big Green were able to muster.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• Holy Cross improves to 8-22 overall, while Dartmouth falls to 9-14.
• This is Holy Cross' highest offensive output since a 16-1 win vs. Army on April 15, 2017.
• Masel's four RBI in the contest are the most in a single game by a Crusader this year. He is the first Holy Cross player to record multiple triples in 2019; he now leads the team with 15 RBI on the year.
• Sophomore lefty Luke Dawson matched a career-high with four strikeouts in his outing.

DUE UP:

• Holy Cross heads to Annapolis, Maryland, for its first Patriot League road series of 2019 at Navy.
• The three-game slate begins with a doubleheader at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, followed by a single game at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 7.

Follow @HCrossBaseball