SCRANTON, Pa. – Junior outfielder Corey Zientek (Sugarloaf, Pa./Hazleton Area) matched a pair of single-season program records and The University of Scranton baseball team (23-13, 11-6 Landmark) swept a doubleheader from the first place Elizabethtown Blue Jays (28-9, 14-2 Landmark) on Senior Day on Saturday at Volpe Field in Scranton.

Scranton took game one by a score of 9-6 and completed the sweep with a comeback 12-11 win in the nightcap.

Zientek tied both the single-season records for runs scored (61) and stolen bases (34) on the day. The runs scored record had been set by Connor Harding in 2022 and the steals record was set by Chris Stallone in 2009.

Scranton 9, ETown 6

The Royals took the lead for good with a five-run fourth inning en route to the 9-6 win.

In the afore-mentioned five-run fourth, graduate student Jake Lisicky (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) tied the game with a sac fly and two batters later, fellow graduate student Dan Crossan (Media, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) came through with a go-ahead two-run single. Later in the inning, junior Jack Heineman (Abington, Pa./LaSalle College) came through with an RBI single and a balk brought home the final run that made it 8-4.

Nicholas Ortega suffered his first loss of the year for the Blue Jays after allowing the eight runs on six hits to go along with two walks and three strikeouts in 3 1/3 IP.

Senior right-hander Hunter Ralston (Duryea, Pa./Pittston Area) got the win for the Royals after giving up five runs on 10 hits and fanning two in five innings of work. Junior lefty Mike Fox (Westfield, N.J./Union Catholic) who allowed just one hit in 2 2/3 shutout IP and graduate student Ryan Heiser (New Milford, N.J./Saint Joseph Regional) who got the final four outs combined to close things out.

ETown struck first with a run in the top of the first, but Scranton quickly answered with two in the home half with consecutive RBI singles from Heineman and senior Braden Breithaupt (Canadensis, Pa./Stroudsburg).

The Blue Jays then took the lead with a pair of runs in the second and the two sides traded solo runs in the third as the visitors led 4-3 after three innings.

Following Scranton's five-run fourth inning, senior Nick Reposa (Factoryville, Pa./Tunkhannock) knocked in a run with an RBI double that extended the lead to 9-5.

Breithaupt (4-5, RBI, 2 R) matched his career-high with four hits and Heineman and Reposa added two apiece in the victory.

Scranton 12, ETown 11

The Royals broke a nine-all deadlock with three runs in the home half of the eighth and freshman Logan Mason (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central) worked his way around a two-run single in the top of the ninth to notch his first career save.

Clinging to the 12-11 lead, Mason got Robbie Bertucio looking at strike three to end it with the tying run standing at first base.

Freshman Conor Campbell (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth, stole second and third and scored on a wild pitch to give the Royals the lead. Three batters later, Zientek delivered a two-out, two-run single that made it a 12-9 game for the time being.

Junior righty Ryan Walsh (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Chaminade) allowed a run on a hit and struck out one over 2.0 IP to pick up his second win of the year.

Garrett Schwartzbeck was charged with three runs on one hit while walking and fanning a pair in 1 2/3 IP as he fell to 1-2 for the Blue Jays.

ETown grabbed an early 5-0 lead before the Royals got on the board with two in the third on Lisicky's sac fly and junior John Zarnowski's (East Brunswick, N.J./St. Joseph's) RBI single. However, the Blue Jays got both runs back in the top of the fifth and led 7-2 until Scranton plated four in the fifth to make it a one-run game at 7-6.

A pair of bases-loaded walks issued to Campbell and senior Robert Beyer (Bedford, N.Y./Fordham Prep) started the scoring in the fifth and set the stage for a two-out, two-run single from junior TJ Pleban (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton Area).

Head coach Mike Bartoletti's team took the lead momentarily in the sixth inning with RBI singles from Lisicky and Breithaupt, but the two teams continued to trade punches and things were tied at nine when the Blue Jays got a run in the top of the eighth.

Reposa (2-4, 2 SB, 3 R) and Zientek (3-5, 2 RBI, 2 SB, 2 R) both registered multi-hit games, while Beyer doubled and drew a pair of walks and Campbell also scored a pair of runs.

The Royals will host the Blue Jays in the series finale on Monday evening at Volpe Field with first pitch set for 5 p.m.

--ROYALS--