WORCESTER, Mass. — The top-seeded Holy Cross baseball team cruised to a 10-0 victory over fourth-seeded Lehigh in Game 1 of the 2025 Patriot League Tournament semifinals on Saturday, May 10 at Fitton Field.
Junior right-hander
Danny Macchiarola struck out a season-high 12 batters and conceded just one walk through eight shutout innings. The shutout was Holy Cross' third of the season and the program's first in the Patriot League Tournament since 2013.
The Crusaders (28-22) broke the game open with a six-run fifth inning; senior first baseman
Chris Baillargeon notched two of his three RBI on the day on a base hit that kicked off the rally. Eight of Holy Cross' batters recorded a hit on the day, with multi-hit showings from sophomore center fielder
Gianni Royer and senior third baseman
Connor Peek.
STARTING ON THE MOUND:
- Marcus Danchision: (L, 5-4), 4.0 innings pitched, four hits allowed, four runs — three earned, three walks, two strikeouts
- Danny Macchiarola: (W, 8-4), 8.0 innings pitched, seven hits allowed, no runs, one walk, 12 strikeouts
OUT OF THE BULLPEN:
- Cole Kochanowicz: 0.1 innings pitched, two hits allowed, four runs — three earned, two walks, one strikeout
- David Andolina: 3.2 innings pitched, four hits allowed, two runs — one earned, three walks, five strikeouts
- Freshman Marco Citro: 1.0 innings pitched, no hits, no runs, one strikeout
STEPPING TO THE PLATE:
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Crusaders took a 1-0 lead in the first inning off of a sacrifice fly by Baillargeon. Another sac fly, this time by senior second baseman Brendan Jones, extended the Holy Cross lead to 2-0 by the fourth inning.
- Macchiarola — aided by several stellar defensive plays — was dominant on the mound throughout, recording nine strikeouts through the first four innings.
- Holy Cross broke the game open in the fifth inning, putting a pair of runners on second and third after a walk was issued to junior right fielder CJ Egrie and Scanlon doubled down the right field line. Baillargeon hit a two-run single to left, and Peek singled with the bases loaded to score two more, extending the advantage to 6-0. Royer scored off of a double steal to make it 7-0; Peek then stole third and scored after an errant throw by the Lehigh catcher to make it 8-0.
- Egrie was able to score on another misplay by the Mountain Hawks catcher in the sixth to extend Holy Cross' lead to 9-0.
- Senior shortstop Jimmy King hit a two-out single in the eighth and came around to score after Royer tripled down the left field line to give Holy Cross a double-digit lead.
- Citro shut the door in the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning to secure the shutout.
DUE UP:
- The Crusaders and Mountain Hawks will continue the best-of-three series on Sunday, May 11 at Fitton Field.
- First pitch is set for 2 p.m.; if needed, Game 3 will be played following the conclusion of Game 2.
FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS
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