Box Score SCRANTON, Pa. – The University of Scranton baseball team (28-12-1) plated a pair of runs in the ninth and put together a late rally, but came up just short in a heartbreaking 8-6 loss to the Catholic University Cardinals (29-12) in a Landmark Conference Tournament elimination game on Saturday afternoon at Volpe Field in Scranton.
Sophomore Corey Zientek (Sugarloaf, Pa./Hazleton Area) and senior Jake Lisicky (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) both came through with RBI singles in the ninth inning that brought the Royals within a pair, but the Cardinals' Matt Tesoriero got a grounder to second for the final out with runners at first and second and two outs.
Zientek's RBI single plated graduate student Connor Harding (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) who broke both the program and Landmark Conference's all-time runs scored record with the 167th run of his career, surpassing the previous record of 166 that had been held by Chris Stallone (2008-11).
Catholic used a two-run single from Peter Giombetti in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead and following Lisicky's RBI double in the bottom of the second that got the hosts on the board, the Cardinals added two more runs in the top of the third for a 4-1 advantage.
Junior right-hander Hunter Ralston (Duryea, Pa./Pittston Area) was dealt the loss for the Royals as he allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits to go along with two walks and two strikeouts over 3 2/3 IP. For the Cardinals, Jack Zaffiro allowed an unearned run on two hits while walking five and fanning four in 5 1/3 IP to record the victory.
The 4-1 score would hold until the sixth inning when the Cardinals tacked on three runs to extend the lead to 7-1. However, Scranton began to battle back with three runs in the seventh as a walk and an error put two runners on before Zientek knocked in a pair with a two-run double and senior Tyler Kirsten (Wallenpaupack, Pa./Wallenpaupack Area) followed with an RBI triple that cut the lead to 7-4.
Lisicky (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI), Zientek (2-2, 2B, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 2 SB, 2 R) and graduate student Kevin Johnson (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central) who added two hits and scored a run, recorded multi-hit games for the Royals, while junior right-hander Liam Fitzgerald (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) and sophomore lefty Matthew Moreira (Union, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) both fired a scoreless inning plus of relief.
The Royals' 2021-22 roster featured 13 seniors or graduate students: Harding, Johnson, Kirsten, Lisicky, Mason Boettger (Old Forge, Pa./Old Forge), Drew Brodine (Hopewell, N.J./Hopewell Valley), Dan Crossan (Media, Pa./Archbishop Carroll), Conner DiAngelo (East Granby, Conn./Northwest Catholic), James Gadue (West Hartford, Conn./Hall), Ryan Heiser (New Milford, N.J./Saint Joseph Regional), Luke Hoey (Southampton, N.J./Seneca), Tanner Kohler (Mount Joy, Pa./Donegal) and Josh Lydon (Shavertown, Pa./Dallas).
--ROYALS--
