SCRANTON, Pa. – Junior Jake Elston (New Milford, Conn./Canterbury School) drove in five runs on the day, graduate student righty Daniel Johnson (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Immaculata) tossed six shutout innings in game two and senior Aidan Plick (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) delivered a walk-off single in game one as The University of Scranton baseball team (2-0) opened the 2024 campaign with a doubleheader sweep of RIT (0-2) on Sunday at Volpe Field.
The Royals captured a 14-13 victory in game one and then completed the sweep of the twin bill with a 3-0 shutout win in the nightcap.
Scranton 14, RIT 13
Plick's two-out walk-off single in the home half of the ninth completed a three-run rally in the inning for Scranton as Elston had tied the game earlier in the frame with a two-run double.
Senior Matthew Querey (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) was hit by a pitch, classmate Nick Reposa (Factoryville, Pa./Tunkhannock) followed with a single and Elston followed with his two-run double into the left centerfield gap that tied the game at 13 apiece. Later in the inning, Plick stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two away and his blooper fell in shallow right field allowing sophomore Conor Campbell (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) to scamper home from third with the winning run.
RIT had taken a 13-11 lead into the home half of the ninth after scoring two runs in the top of the inning.
Eric Sipling was dealt the loss for RIT as he allowed four runs on six hits to go along with two walks and a strikeout over 2 2/3 IP.
Senior right-hander Johnny Flannigan (Syosset, N.Y./Avon Old Farms) gave up one earned run and struck out a pair in 1 1/3 IP of relief for Scranton to record the victory.
After the Tigers grabbed an early 1-0 lead with a run in the top of the first, the Royals quickly answered for four in the bottom of the inning including a three-run double by senior Pat Coyne (Randolph, N.J./Morristown-Beard).
Scranton led 9-2 after two innings as Campbell delivered an RBI single and Pleban cleared the bases with a three-run double of his own.
RIT began to chip away at the deficit and plated three in the fifth that cut the lead to 9-6 before Elston got one back for the Royals with an RBI double that made it 10-6 for the time being.
Graduate student righty Hunter Ralston (Duryea, Pa./Pittston Area) got the start for the Royals and allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits while fanning three over four innings of work.
Senior southpaw Jason Carpenter (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) struck out one and fired a pair of scoreless frames in relief for head coach Mike Bartoletti's team.
The Tigers struck for three in the top of the eighth to take an 11-10 lead before an RBI double from senior John Zarnowski (East Brunswick, N.J./St. Joseph's) in the home half of the frame tied the game at 11 apiece which set the stage for the afore-mentioned ninth inning.
Campbell (2-4, 3B, RBI, 4 R), Elston (2-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI, R), Reposa (2-3, 2B, 3 HBP, 4 R) and Zarnowski (2-4, 2B, RBI, R) all tallied multi-hit games as part of a 12-hit attack.
Scranton 3, RIT 0
Johnson scattered just four hits over six shutout innings and Scranton cruised to a 3-0 victory over RIT in the nightcap.
The Whitehouse Station, N.J., native did not walk a batter and struck out five on the day. Junior righty Dominic Chieffalo (Norristown, Pa./Malvern Prep) fanned one in a scoreless seventh to notch his first career save.
The game was scoreless until the third inning when a single and hit by pitch put two runners on with two away and Elston plated both runners with a double down the left field line.
In the home half of the sixth, Elston led off with a single, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Zarnowski's RBI fielder's choice.
Alex Slotter took the loss for RIT as he was charged with two runs on two hits while walking two and fanning four in 4.0 IP.
Scranton is back in action on Saturday afternoon for a doubleheader at No. 1 Johns Hopkins with first pitch of game one slated for 12 p.m.
--ROYALS--
