SCRANTON, Pa. – Graduate student right-hander Hunter Ralston (Duryea, Pa./Pittston Area) tossed eight innings of one-run ball in game one and junior Jake Elston (New Milford, Conn./Canterbury School) tallied three hits and three RBI in game two as The University of Scranton baseball team (11-3, 5-1 Landmark) swept a doubleheader from the Lycoming Warriors (4-14, 1-6 Landmark) on Sunday afternoon at Volpe Field in Scranton.
The Royals took game one by a score of 4-2 and won the nightcap 8-4.
Scranton 4, Lycoming 2
Ralston struck out a career-high eight batters in his eight innings of work and the Royals notched the 4-2 victory in game one.
The Duryea, Pa., native allowed one run on five hits while walking one and fanning eight over 8.0 IP, which matched a career-high. Ralston's eight strikeouts surpassed his previous career-high of seven that had been set on two occasions.
Trailing 4-2, Lycoming had runners at second and third with two outs in the ninth, but sophomore righty Logan Mason (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central) got Jake Schilling to ground to short and register his third save of the year.
Lycoming got on the board first with a run in the top of the fourth before Scranton quickly answered with two in the home half to take a 2-1 lead. Senior Matthew Querey (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) reached with a two-out double, took third on an error and scored on junior TJ Pleban's (Sugarloaf, Pa./Hazleton Area) RBI single before freshman Jared Cassella (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central) followed with an RBI single of his own to give the Royals the lead.
Querey added an RBI single in the fifth that extended the lead to 3-1.
Jake Wilber was dealt the loss for the Warriors after allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits to go along with a walk and four strikeouts over five innings of work.
The Royals added an insurance run in the eighth inning as Querey reached on a fielder's choice, advanced to second on a sac bunt and scored on Pleban's RBI single.
Pleban (2-4, 2 RBI), Querey (2-3, 2B, RBI, 2 R) and sophomore Vincent Napolitano (Merrick, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) all tallied two hits apiece for head coach Mike Bartoletti's team.
Scranton 8, Lycoming 4
Elston finished just a double shy of the cycle and Scranton broke the game open with a four-run sixth to complete the sweep of the doubleheader.
Lycoming took a brief 1-0 lead in the top of the second, but the Royals immediately fought back in the bottom half of the frame as junior Pat Coyne (Randolph, N.J./Morristown-Beard) and Elston delivered consecutive triples and the latter scored on Querey's sac fly for a 2-1 lead.
Elston added an RBI single as part of a two-run fourth and Mason drove in Coyne with a sac fly that stretched the lead to 4-1.
Freshman right-hander Matt Holgado (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) allowed one run on four hits to go along with two walks and three strikeouts over five innings of work to earn his first career win. Senior lefty Mike Fox (Westfield, N.J./Union Catholic) struck out three over two perfect innings of relief and freshman righty Matt Chapman (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) fired a scoreless eighth to help the Royals preserve the win.
Noah Miller was charged with the loss for Lycoming after giving up four runs on four hits while walking four and fanning three in 5.0 IP.
In Scranton's afore-mentioned four-run sixth, Elston homered to right and sophomore Conor Campbell (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) beat out an infield single to bring home a run. An error and a wild pitch then allowed the final two runs of the inning to score.
Coyne (2-4, 2B, 3B, 2 R), Elston (3-3, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, SB, 2 R) and Querey (2-2, BB, RBI, R) all recorded multi-hit games.
The Royals will host Wilkes in a Landmark Conference battle on Monday afternoon at Volpe Field with first pitch slated for 4:30 p.m.
--ROYALS--
