MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The University of Scranton baseball team (5-1-1) kicked off the Spring Break trip in impressive fashion with a doubleheader sweep of the Suffolk Rams (1-2) on Sunday evening at The Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach.

The Royals have now won four straight as they took game one by a score of 10-5 and captured game two, 4-1.

Game One

Scranton jumped out to an early lead with a six run second inning and never looked back en route to the 10-5 win in game one.

In the afore-mentioned big inning, a single, walk and hit by pitch loaded the bases to set the stage for two-run singles from sophomore Corey Zientek (Sugarloaf, Pa./Hazleton Area) and senior Tyler Kirsten (Wallenpaupack, Pa./Wallenpaupack Area) that opened up a 4-0 lead. Fellow senior Jake Lisicky (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) followed Kirsten with an RBI single of his own and the Royals had a 6-0 lead after two.

Suffolk answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the second, but Lisicky struck again in the fourth inning with a two-run single for an 8-3 advantage at the time. Zientek added an RBI double in the fifth as Scranton cruised to the game one win.

On the mound for the Royals, senior lefty James Gadue (West Hartford, Conn./Hall) allowed two runs on a hit and fanned two over two innings of work to notch the win, while sophomore right-hander George Sengos (Washington Twp., N.J./Westwood Regional) struck out four over two scoreless frames in relief of Gadue.

Steven Rossi was dealt the loss for the Rams after giving up eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits to go along with two walks and six strikeouts in 4.0 IP. Junior right-hander Hunter Ralston (Duryea, Pa./Pittston Area) made his first start of the year for the Royals and surrendered three runs on five hits while fanning three in three innings.

Lisicky and Zientek led the way offensively for head coach Mike Bartoletti's club with three hits and three RBI apiece. Kirsten also chipped in with a 2-4 day at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored.

Game Two

The Royals started game two with a bang with back-to-back-to-back home runs in the first inning and picked up an eventual 4-1 win in the nightcap of Sunday's doubleheader.

Junior Nick Reposa (Factoryville, Pa./Tunkhannock), junior Braden Breithaupt (Canadensis, Pa./Stroudsburg) and Zientek all homered to left field in the home half of the first for a quick 3-0 lead.

That was all the run support that junior right-hander Daniel Johnson (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Immaculata) would need as he allowed just a run on five hits and fanned two in five innings for his second win of the season. Senior southpaw Ryan Heiser (New Milford, Pa./St. Joseph Regional) closed things out with two punchouts over the final two frames to notch the save.

Suffolk got one back with an RBI double from Harry Painter in the top of the second, but was unable to do any further damage against Johnson. In the home half of the fourth, graduate student Connor Harding (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) reached on an error, advanced to third on a double by sophomore Aidan Plick (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) and scored on junior Anthony Tramonte's (Mineola, N.Y./Chaminade) RBI groundout for Scranton's fourth and final run of the game.

Nick Reiser took the loss for the Rams after allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits while fanning six in 3 1/3 IP.

The Royals are right back in action tomorrow morning against Keene State with first pitch slated for 9 a.m.

--ROYALS--