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Michael
Umerich |
Zach
Dignam |
Patrick
O'Dell |
Patrick
Mergel |
Box score (game one)
Box score (game two)
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The University of Scranton baseball team came out on the wrong end of a pair of walk-offs on Thursday afternoon, dropping both ends of a doubleheader to Elizabethtown, 4-3 and 6-4 in eight innings, at Boyd Memorial Stadium.
The Royals (7-10, 5-4 Landmark) have now lost five games this season in the final inning and have four one-run losses. Both games started in solid fashion as Scranton took leads early in both games, but the Blue Jays (13-8, 4-5 Landmark) battled back in both games a day after the teams combined to tie a Landmark Conference record for combined runs in a game in Scranton's 22-13 win.
In the opener, the Royals had a 3-1 lead going to the bottom of the fourth on the strength of an RBI squeeze bunt by junior catcher Dominick Gulius (Laflin, Pa./Coughlin) in the second inning and a two-run single by junior left fielder Brian Healy (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) in the third.
Elizabethtown cut the lead to 3-2 with a run in the fourth, but Scranton maintained that lead going to the bottom of the seventh. But a walk, an RBI triple and an RBI single gave the Blue Jays a walk-off win to even the series at a game apiece.
Sophomore shortstop Patrick O'Dell (Harleysville, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) singled twice and scored a run, senior designated hitter Michael Umerich (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) had a pair of hits, and senior right fielder Zach Dignam (Bridgewater, N.J./Immaculata) doubled in the opener. Freshman lefty Brian Markowski (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) took a no-decision after allowing two runs on three hits and five walks while striking out two in five innings.
Game two started even better for the Royals, who took a 4-0 lead by scoring once in the third, once in the fourth and twice in the fifth. Dignam had an RBI single in the third inning, freshman third baseman Patrick Mergel (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) had an RBI single in the fourth, and senior first baseman Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy) had an RBI sac fly in the fifth while O'Dell later scored on an error.
The Blue Jays started their comeback with a run in the bottom of the fifth, then scored three times in the sixth to tie the score at four. After both teams were scoreless in the seventh to force extra innings, the Royals pushed across a run in the top of the eighth on an RBI squeeze bunt by sophomore second baseman Anthony Simone (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley Senior).
Elizabethtown had the final say, though, with a two-out, two-run double in the bottom half of the inning for its second walk-off win of the day.
Mergel finished the game 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI, Umerich singled twice, Simone and Danzig added doubles and freshman center fielder Tommy Trotter (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) singled and scored twice.
The Royals are back in action on Saturday, April 4, when they travel to Kings Point, N.Y. to take on Merchant Marine Academy in a Landmark Conference doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
--ROYALS--
