MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The University of Scranton baseball team (6-1-1) grabbed an early lead and held on for a 10-6 victory over the Keene State Owls (0-7) on Monday morning at The Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach.

Scranton is a perfect 3-0 on the team's Spring Break trip thus far and has won five straight overall.

In the top of the first, senior Jake Lisicky (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) and graduate student Kevin Johnson (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central) delivered consecutive two-out RBI doubles to give Scranton a 2-0 lead. The Royals struck for two more runs apiece in the third and fourth innings including RBI singles from junior Justin Pinckert (Somerville, N.J./Immaculata) and senior Tyler Kirsten (Wallenpaupack, Pa./Wallenpaupack Area) opened up a 6-0 advantage for the time being.

The lead would balloon to 7-0 before Keene State put together a rally with three runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth to make it a one run game. Trailing 7-6, the Owls had the tying run at second base with two away in the sixth inning, but freshman right-hander Liam Fitzgerald (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) got Junior Santos to tap one back to the mound and end the threat.

The Royals quickly added an insurance run in the top of the seventh as Pinckert reached on an error, advanced to second on a single and junior Nick Reposa (Factoryville, Pa./Tunkhannock) pinch-ran and later scored on classmate Braden Breithaupt's (Canadensis, Pa./Stroudsburg) sac fly. Reposa and graduate student Connor Harding (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) each hit a solo home run in the last two innings to account for the Royals' final two runs of the day.

Reposa's round-tripper was his second in as many days after he hit one in the game two victory over Suffolk on Sunday night.

Senior right-hander Josh Lydon (Shavertown, Pa./Dallas) earned the victory for Scranton as he allowed three runs on two hits while walking three and fanning a season-high seven batters in five innings. Fitzgerald (1.0 IP, K) and fellow freshman righty Jimmy Murray (Hawthorne, N.Y./Westlake) who struck out two over three scoreless frames combined to close things out as Murray registered the save.

Kirsten (3-4, RBI, R, 2 SB), Harding (2-5, HR, RBI, 2 R, SB) and Johnson (2-5, RBI, R, 2 SB) all had multi-hit games for the Royals.

The University of Scranton baseball team is back in action tomorrow morning as they battle Albertus Magnus with first pitch at The Ripken Experience slated for 9 a.m.

--ROYALS--