The Muhlenberg baseball team scored five runs in its first at-bat and never looked back, defeating Penn State Berks 18-13 in its first game since returning from Florida.

The Mules (7-7-1) stole nine bases, their most in a game since 2012, and also belted two home runs - back-to-back round-trippers in the fifth inning. Junior Jonathan Toth hit a long three-run homer over the fence in left for his 14th career four-bagger, moving into a tie for fourth on the program's all-time list. The next hitter, senior Caleb Tereska, hit a deep drive over the head of the centerfielder and circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run, the fourth homer of his career. 

Muhlenberg also hit back-to-back home runs in a loss to Swarthmore last year, with Toth hitting one of them. But this was the first time they went back-to-back in a win since a 2017 game against Johns Hopkins. And it was the first time since 2006 that at least one of back-to-back home runs was an inside-the-parker.

The running game helped stake the Mules to their early lead. After junior Jack Kent led off the game with a triple and scored on a single by junior Ryan Riccio, Muhlenberg stole five bases in the inning, including four on double steals. Seniors Christian Schwarz and Jake Swerdloff pulled off a double steal of second and third, and Toth and Swerdloff engineered a double steal of second and home.

Swerdloff (pictured above) finished the game with four stolen bases, the most by a Muhlenberg player since 2003.

The Mules added two runs in the second to open up a 7-0 lead, but the Nittany Lions (3-8) hit two home runs to close to within 7-4 in the third. Muhlenberg got the four runs back in the fourth: A bases-loaded single by Tereska, combined with a throwing error, brought in all three runners, and junior Ryan Friesen followed with an RBI single.

The home runs in the fifth extended the Mules' lead to 15-5. Penn State cut the gap in half and trailed 15-10 before Muhlenberg scored three in the eighth. The Lions closed to within five again in the bottom of the ninth before senior Zach Sager came on to retire the final two hitters.

Riccio and Friesen each had three hits for the Mules, while Toth scored three runs and drove in four. Kent added an RBI double to his leadoff triple.