Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
SCRANTON, Pa. – Senior Connor Harding (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) hit a two-out, two-run walk-off double in game one and The University of Scranton baseball team (10-6, 10-6 Landmark) swept a doubleheader against the Catholic University Cardinals (9-9, 9-9 Landmark) in Landmark Conference action on Sunday afternoon at Volpe Field in Scranton.
The Royals scored four runs in the ninth in game one and Harding's heroics gave the hosts a 6-5 win before a 7-3 victory in the nightcap.
Game One
Harding stepped to the plate facing a 5-4 deficit with runners at first and second and two away before he roped the 2-2 offering from Catholic's Cormac Terry down the right field line to plate both runners and give the Royals the walk-off win.
Scranton put two runners on earlier in the inning with a pair of singles and a wild pitch allowed one run to score before freshman Jack Heineman (Abington, Pa./LaSalle College) cut the lead to one with an RBI fielder's choice.
Terry allowed the walk-off double to Harding and was dealt with the loss for the Cardinals. The first three runs of the inning were charged to Chris Kelly who gave up the trio of runs on two hits over 2 1/3 IP.
Sophomore right-hander Kevin Donovan (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) fanned four in 3 1/3 IP of scoreless relief and earned his first win of the season for the Royals.
Catholic struck first with a run in the top of the first and added two runs in the third to take a 3-0 lead, but the Royals plated a pair of runs in the home half of the fifth on a throwing error charged to Cardinals' pitcher Jack Zaffiro to make it a 3-2 game.
However, Catholic's Nick Torroella registered a two-run single in the top of the sixth to give the Cardinals the 5-2 lead that held until the afore-mentioned ninth inning.
Senior right-hander Matt Morrow (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) got the start for the Royals and allowed three runs on four hits in four innings of work in a no-decision.
Offensively, junior Tyler Kirsten (Wallenpaupack, Pa./Wallenpaupack Area) tied his career-high with four hits in a 4-4 performance to lead Scranton. This marked the second four-hit game of Kirsten's career after he also tallied four hits on Feb. 24, 2019 vs. Montclair State.
Game Two
Sophomore Justin Pinckert (Somerville, N.J./Immaculata) broke a three-all tie with a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth and the Royals completed the sweep with a 7-3 win in the nightcap of Sunday's twin bill.
Pinckert added a two-run single in the home half of the sixth inning to plate a pair of insurance runs as the Somerville, N.J., native was 3-4 on the day and set a career-high with four RBI.
Junior right-hander Josh Lydon (Shavertown, Pa./Dallas) gave up three runs on five hits while fanning three over five plus innings to earn the win for Scranton. Freshman right-hander George Sengos (Washington Twp., N.J./Westwood Regional) and junior southpaw Ryan Heiser (New Milford, N.J./Saint Joseph Regional) both tossed shutout frames of relief to preserve the victory.
Left-hander Cam Mounts was charged with both runs on Pinckert's double and took the loss for the Cardinals.
The Royals opened the scoring in game two with Kirsten's two-run single in the first inning before the Cardinals tied it with two runs of their own in the top of the second. Freshman Corey Zientek (Sugarloaf, Pa./Hazleton Area) delivered an RBI double in the home half of the second and Catholic hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth to tie things at three before Pinckert's two-run double in the bottom half of the inning.
Kirsten (2-4, 2 RBI), Zientek (3-4, 2 2B, RBI, 2 R) and freshman John Zarnowski (East Brunswick, N.J./St. Joseph's) who was 2-4 all added multi-hit contests for the Royals in game two.
As a whole on the day, Kirsten was 6-8 in the doubleheader with two RBI and a run scored. The junior shortstop is now hitting .442 on the season, which ranks second in the Landmark Conference.
The Royals are right back in action on Monday afternoon with a key Landmark doubleheader at Susquehanna. Both games will be seven inning contests and first pitch of game one is slated for 12:30 p.m.
--ROYALS--
