Washington, D.C. – After starting the season with two victories, Stockton University (2-1) played for the third straight day and suffered its first defeat with a 12-5 setback to host Catholic University (2-1) on day three of the Matt Kurkjian ALS Awareness Invitational.
The Ospreys rallied from an early 5-0 deficit to tie the game 5-5 but could not sustain the momentum.
Tony Gatti (Howell/Howell) stroked three of Stockton's nine hits, including a triple, and added one run and one RBI.
Max Kaplan (Wall/Wall) went 2-3 and freshman
Russell Halvorsen (Howell/Howell) was 1-2 with a double, run, RBI and a walk.
Catholic scored once in the first inning and four times in the second for a 5-0 lead. Stockton's rally began in the fourth frame with an RBI triple by Gatti and an RBI single by
Jordan Nitti (Hamilton/Steinert) that made it 5-2.
In the fifth, Halvorsen rapped an RBI double and later scored on a throwing error. Nitti drove in a run with a fielder's choice to tie the game at 5-5. The comeback stalled there as the Cardinals went back in front with a solo home run in the sixth inning and scored six times in the bottom of the seventh to defeat the Ospreys 12-5.
Stockton used five pitchers in the game, with freshmen
Danny Snyder (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) and
Anthony Mehmet (Jackson/Jackson Memorial) combining for 1.2 scoreless innings in their college debuts.
For Catholic, Derek Zelesnick hit a grand slam while Zach Burton, Jesse Lacefield and Dante Pozzi also slugged homers.
Stockton will play its home opener on Tuesday when the Ospreys host Alvernia at 3:00 p.m.
