Baseball Takes Two from Holy Cross

Saturday, March 27

1:05 P.M. ET

Army West Point

5-11, 2-3

Holy Cross

0-6, 0-4

Holy Cross

Army West Point

Baseball Takes Two from Holy Cross

March 27, 2021 | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point baseball team took both ends of the doubleheader vs. Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon at Doubleday Field on the West Point campus.

The Black Knights (6-11, 3-3 Patriot League) won game one of the series by a score of 7-3 and then took game two in walk-off fashion, 6-5 in 10 innings to complete the doubleheader sweep.

In game one, the Crusaders (0-7, 0-5) got on the board first, tagging starting pitcher Anthony LoRicco with a run, but the Black Knight offense wasted no time, scoring at least one run in each of the first four frames to pull out to a 7-1 lead.

The Crusaders added two runs in the sixth inning, but the Black Knights held onto the 7-3 lead. Reliever Tanner Gresham took the win to improve to 1-0 on the year, while Holy Cross starter Luke Dawson took the loss to fall to 0-2.

Leadoff man Carter Macias led the way at the plate in the game one, going 2-for-2 with two runs scored, three RBI and two walks. He drove in two runs on a single to left center in the second inning and added his first home run since 2019, a solo shot, in the fourth inning.

Nick Manesis also had a multi-hit day, going 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored. He drove home the game-tying run in the first inning.

The hero of game two was third baseman Anthony Giachin, who connected on a two-run moon shot in the bottom of the 10^th inning, giving the Black Knights the 6-5 win.

Holy Cross jumped out to a three-run lead, putting up three runs in the second inning on back-to-back doubles off starter Robbie Buecker. Buecker settled in on the bump, however, going 5.2 innings, allowing just three runs on three hits with two walks, two strikeouts and three hit batsman in the no-decision.

The Crusaders added a fourth run in the seventh inning on an RBI single to put the Black Knights in a 4-0 hole.

However, the Black Knights started chipping away at it. In the seventh inning, the Black Knights got on the board with a homer to left for Nick Manesis. Down by three, the Black Knights chipped away further, as Sam Ruta tripled home another run in the seventh and Hunter Meade delivered the second solo shot of the inning to pull within one, 4-3.

Then in the eighth inning, Jeremiah Adams delivered his first long ball of the year, a laser over the left field wall to tie the game at, 4-4.

With all the momentum going their way, the Black Knights seemed to lose some in the top of the 10^th inning as Army reliever Sean Dennehy hit Blum with the bases full of Crusaders to bring home the potential go-ahead run, 5-4. Dennehy was able to limit the damage, however, and we headed to the bottom half of the inning.
With the count 0-1, a runner at first and one out, Giachin connected on a moonshot to deep right field to plate two runs, the game-tying and the go-head to walk the Crusaders off, 6-5.

Dennehy took the win (1-0), while the Crusaders' Liam Dvorak took the loss (0-2).

NOTES

Carter Macias' home run in game one is the second of his career and first since the 2019 season. He was an impressive 2-for-2 with two runs scored, three RBI and two walks on the day.
Army's sixth through nine hitters in game one each had one hit on the day.
Cameron Cerruto drove in two runs on a 1-for-3 day with one run scored in game one.
Nick Manesis was the second Black Knight (first being Macias) to have a multi-hit game in game one, going 2-for-3 with one run scored and one RBI on the day.
Starter Anthony LoRicco went 3.1 innings, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Reliever Tanner Gresham got the win, going 1.2 innings in relief, giving up 2 runs (1 earned) on no hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
Trevor Finan and Harry Flannery tossed the sixth and seventh innings of the 7-inning front half of the double header. Finan didn't give up a hit or a run, walked one, struck out one and hit another batter. Flannery went 1.0 innings, gave up one hit, on runs and struck out one.
In game two, the hero was third baseman Anthony Giachin who went 2-for-5 with one run scored and two RBI. He smashed the first home run of 2021 and the ninth of his career.
Manesis' home run in game two is his third of the season and fourth of his career. He leads the team with three home runs in 2021.
The Black Knights tallied three home runs in game two (Giachin, Manesis and Adams)
Tyler Prichard, Brian Dawson, Connley Early and Harry Flannery also appeared in relief on the day.
RHP Robbie Buecker earned the win, going 5.2 innings in the no-decision, with three runs allowed on three hits, two walks and two strikeouts.