The Bard Raptors Break Even With Muhlenberg

By Caleb Blake

The Bard College baseball team split a thrilling doubleheader against Muhlenberg on Saturday at Penn Medicine Stadium. The Raptors won the first game 6-4 but fell in Game 2, 2-13.

The Raptors and the Mules combined for 25 runs and 26 hits in this hard-fought battle.

Bard was led by Sam Dumper, who recorded two runs and three hits, while Spencer Azzara contributed two RBIs, two hits, and two runs. James Karras also had a strong performance, with three hits, two RBIs, and two runs.

In Game 1, Bryant Elliott started on the mound, pitching 6 innings and striking out 6 batters. Tom Maxwell and Evan Landsman came in as relief, with Maxwell adding one strikeout and Landsman getting the win.

In Game 2, Charlie Lehr took the start and recorded two strikeouts. Bard used four relief pitchers, with Nikhil Newman, Dylan Conte, Kane Morgan, and Henry Hubner taking the mound. Conte added two strikeouts, while Hubner had his first collegiate mound appearance and finished the game with two innings pitched and four strikeouts.

The Raptors will hit the road once again for their spring break trip, this time heading to Florida where they will face three teams, with the first doubleheader against MCLA next Saturday.

Game 1: Bard 6, Muhlenberg 4
The Raptors wasted no time setting the tone in the opening inning, with Azzara ripping a powerful double to right field, driving in Dumper and putting the Raptors on the scoreboard early, 1-0. The momentum kept rolling as Karras followed up with an RBI, sending Azzara home and pushing Bard’s lead to 2-0. But Muhlenberg wasn’t done yet, they answered back with an unearned run in the bottom of the first, closing the gap to 2-1 as the Raptors went into the second inning with a slim advantage.

The back-and-forth picked up again in the third inning. Mike Lynch delivered with a clutch RBI single, bringing Karras home to stretch Bard’s lead to 3-1. However, the Mules capitalized on a costly error, allowing a runner to score and cutting Bard’s lead to just one, 3-2.

After a tense fourth inning where the Raptors managed to plate another run thanks to a timely RBI single from Gavin Gonzalez that brought Dumper home, Bard maintained its 4-2 lead. Muhlenberg went scoreless, leaving the game still within reach for the Mules.

As the game moved into the later innings, the intensity only ramped up. Muhlenberg made the most of two pitching changes in the seventh, stringing together a rally to tie the game at 4-4. But Bard’s resilience shone through. In extra innings, the Raptors capitalized on a throwing error and a clutch ground out to put two more runs on the board, as Lynch and Xavier Webb crossed the plate to give Bard a 6-4 lead.

Bard’s defense stepped up in the bottom of the eighth, closing out Muhlenberg with a swift inning to seal the 6-4 victory in the first of their two-game series.

Game 2: Bard 2, Muhlenberg 13
Muhlenberg exploded for five runs in the first inning, capitalizing on wild pitches and passed balls to take a 6-0 lead, digging bard into a deep hole.

Bard attempted to respond in the second inning, getting on the board with an RBI single to left field from Lynch. The Raptors took advantage of a throwing error by the Mules, which allowed Karras to score and cut the lead to 6-2. However, Muhlenberg quickly regained control in the third inning, extending their lead to 7-1 after another run came across.

The game slowly drifted out of reach in the fourth as the Mules added six more runs. By the end of the inning, Muhlenberg had built a 13-1 lead. But the Raptors didn’t go down quietly, managing to score a run in the fifth inning off a throwing error by the Mules, making it 13-2. However, the rally was short-lived as Muhlenberg’s defense held strong, and the Mules sealed the win.