Mulhall

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Of the many transfers staffing the batting order, long line of pitchers and crowded dugout at Shepherd, easily the most impressive hitters, infield fixtures and stability to its batting order have been Ryan Haddaway and Ross Mulhall.

Haddaway and Mulhall were at it again last week at ageless Fairfax Field when the Rams opened the PSAC version of their schedule with a 3-1 and thumping 18-6 wins over Mansfield (Pa.) in a doubleheader moved to Shepherdstown because of the snow that covered the field of the Mountaineers.

Mulhall provided Shepherd pitching with the scoring comfort of his four home runs in the doubleheader sweep the Rams will probably need to menace Millersville, East Stroudsburg and West Chester at the top of the league’s East Division.

After the two wins moved Shepherd’s overall record to 6-6, Mulhall was hitting .341, had a 1.096 OPS, led the team with his 13 RBIs, four homers and 14 runs scored. Haddaway easily led the team in batting average at .400, going 18-for-45 and had only fanned three times on a team that mostly strikes out 10 to 15 times a game.

Nick Trabacchi choked off the Mansfield batters in the seven-inning opener, going six innings while allowing only five hits, two walks and fanning eight. Ryan Bywaters, was credited with a save after a scoreless seventh. Bywaters allowed his first hit of the season.

Haddaway

Mulhall showed what his afternoon at the plate was going to be with a solo homer in the fourth when the game was scoreless. He would then homer three more times in the nightcap.

Haddaway went 1-for-3 with Shepherd’s other RBI before finishing the afternoon with a 2-for-5 showing in Shepherd’s second-game rout.

Mulhall’s continued barrage into the copse of trees beyond the left field fence in the second game left him with seven RBIs, 14 total bases and a 4-for-6 game.

In the nightcap, the 12-run difference in the teams was deceiving. Shepherd once sported a 6-1 lead that Mansfield erased to make it a 6-6 tie . . . before the Rams scored the last 12 runs with the considerable help from a nine-run seventh inning.

After Mansfield tied it against Shepherd starter Chris Chaney, the Ram relief corps of Tanner Dixon, Gordon Swiger and Aaron Snyder blanked the Mountaineers over the final four innings.

In addition to Mulhall’s trio of second game home runs, Joey Schwartz, Brady Weaver and Cole Daugherty all had round trippers for the Rams.

In the second game’s offensive output, Shepherd had 15 hits with Sam Daggers, Haddaway, Zach Doss and Weaver all contributing two hits. Weaver drove in three runs.

The two PSAC teams were set to play another game on Monday, but last weekend’s snow wasn’t gone by that time and caused an announced postponement to some other time in the spring.

There was a non-conference doubleheader scheduled for Tuesday, versus Alderson-Broaddus at Fairfax Field, and then a Saturday doubleheader back in the conference against Bloomsburg for the Rams at noon at Fairfax Field.

Mulhall and Haddaway had risen to the top of Shepherd’s performance ladder. And the Rams will continue to need every hit and every RBI they can produce from the middle of the batting order.