MADISON, N.J. (March 20, 2010) -  The Cardinals spoiled a picture perfect day for baseball as they took the first two of the three-game set this afternoon on Doc Young Field. Game one was a underclassman pitching duel between freshman Stephen Rosone (Little Silver, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) and sophomore Andrew Moldawer, that saw Catholic squeak out a 2-1 extra inning victory. The Cardinals bats awoke in the second game and cruised to a 5-2 win.                                                                                                                                                                     

Game One

Michael Bodden (Toms River, N.J./Monsignor Donovan) led off the game with his first career homerun to give the Rangers a quick 1-0 lead.  Moldawer had a shaky start giving up the homerun to Bodden, walked two of the next three batters and gave up a single to Peter Tuchhol (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) to load the bases. After a long visit on the mound by the Catholic coaching staff, Moldawer buckled down and retired the next three batters to end the early threat.

The stranded runners would prove to be costly as Rosone did his part and put together a masterful performance on the mound, tallying six strikeouts and only one earned run on the day. Going into the eighth inning, Rosone had only given up two hits before the catcher Dave Grear singled up the middle. With the aid of a passed ball Catholic would play small ball getting Grear to third with one out. It would set the stage for Troy Langway, who hit a fly ball deep enough to score Grear.

The Rangers did not manage another hit after the early rally in the first inning. Moldawer would not factor in the decision but left the game after striking out nine and allowing the only Ranger run of the game on the Bodden homer.

Game Two

In Game two Catholic got another strong pitching performance from Jack Mahoney. The junior pitched six strong innings, scattering four hits and tallying five strikeouts. Catholic got on the board quickly in the first when Dmitri Deoudes doubled to center and was driven in the very next batter, LJ Travaglia who singled to left center.

The Cardinals would get to Ranger starter, Will Van Houten (Dexter, N.Y./Watertown), one more time in his final inning of work. Catholic racked up three hits and pushed across two more runs in the fourth. Tom Clark (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) would come on in the fifth and did not fare much better as Catholic tacked on two more including a homerun to game one hero, Grear.

The Rangers would not go down without a fight. With Mahoney out of the game in the seventh Drew would jump all over reliever Victor Dume. Pinch Hitter Justin Mancini (Haskell N.J./Lakeland Regional) got the rally started with a single to right center field and advanced to second on another single from Kyle O'Neill (Basking Ridge, N.J./St. Benards).  With two outs in the inning the Rangers would string together two more hits by Tom Murray (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial) and Matt McGrath (Rutherford, NJ./Rutherford). The rally produced two runs but would be halted when the Cardinals brought in Billy Robbett for the one-out save.

The Rangers will look to avoid the sweep tomorrow morning when they play the final game of the three game series at 11:00 on Doc Young Field.