On February 15, the Baseball team had a season-opening victory of 5-3 against William Paterson University. Ensuring the win for the Ducks was senior pitcher David Finch, last year’s MAC Freedom Pitcher of the Year, who allowed William Paterson only one earned run throughout the game. Along with Finch was junior Garret Wolf, who was returning to the roster after being out for 42 games last season because of an injury, finishing with a home run and three RBI.
Starting off the game strong, first-year John Czernyk, junior Chip Krese, and graduate student Griffin Zitko were on a 4-6-3 double play to end the first and keep the Pioneers scoreless. However, in the second inning, the Pioneers ran a home run, giving them a 1-0 lead. The Ducks tied up the score in the third, senior Dylan Fishbough running home off a hit from junior Quinton Sterling.
The fourth inning was quiet for both teams, both going pointless, before the Pioneers attempted runs in the fifth, with Finch pitching to ensure they stayed tied at 1-1. A hit by Fishbough loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth, and hits from Wolf, and graduate student Justin Zachery sent Czernyk, Krese, and Fishbough home to put up the team’s first crooked number of the season on the board, and to send them into a lead of 4-1.
There was no action in the sixth, but the seventh found the Pioneers narrowing the Ducks’ lead to 4-2 with a throwing error and an RBI groundout. The Ducks were quick to respond, however, with Wolf leading with a home run, his first since April 30, 2024. It wasn’t until the ninth that Finch allowed another unearned run, but with the pressure, he closed the top of the inning with his fifth strikeout of the day.
It was a seamless win for the Ducks, improving their record against the Pioneers to 4-1 since the 2024 season, with Krese and Fishbough both finishing with an impressive two stolen bases each and a combined three runs. The Ducks will be back on the field on February 20, 21, and 22 for the Matt Kurkjian ALS Awareness Invitational hosted by The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where we hope to see the beginnings of a win streak.
