SCRANTON, Pa. – The University of Scranton baseball team (13-5, 7-3 Landmark) split a doubleheader with the Catholic University Cardinals (13-7, 5-4 Landmark) in Landmark Conference action on Saturday at Volpe Field in Scranton.

The Royals dropped a 12-2 decision in game one before bouncing back with a 10-5 victory in the nightcap.

Catholic 12, Scranton 2

Catholic was able to break the game open with five runs in the sixth and the Royals fell by a score of 12-2 in game one.

Things were tied at two apiece after two innings as the Cardinals scored a run apiece in each of the first two frames and sophomore Aidan Casey (Silver Beach, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) delivered a game-tying two-run double for the Royals in the home half of the second.

In the top of the third, Catholic's Logan Eilbacher restored the lead for the visitors with an RBI single and the 3-2 score would hold until the sixth inning.

Scranton put runners in scoring position in the third and fourth innings, but were unable to breakthrough any further against Cardinals' starter Roman Tozzi.

Tozzi gave up two runs on four hits while walking five and fanning nine over six innings of work as he recorded the win for the Cardinals.

Zach Burton had a two-run double as part of the afore-mentioned five-run sixth inning that allowed for Catholic to break the game open and take an 8-2 lead.

Graduate student right-hander Hunter Ralston (Duryea, Pa./Pittston Area) gave up five runs on eight hits to go along with a walk and four strikeouts in 5.0+ IP as he was dealt the loss for Scranton.

Senior lefty Matt Roda (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) threw well in relief for the Royals as he allowed just one earned run on one hit over 2 1/3 IP.

Casey (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI) and senior Jack Heineman (Abington, Pa./LaSalle College) who tallied two hits and scored a run both registered multi-hit games for head coach Mike Bartoletti's team.

Scranton 10, Catholic 5

The Royals scored a run in seven of eight innings and earned a split of the doubleheader with a 10-5 victory in the nightcap.

Trailing 7-4, Catholic loaded the bases with one away in the top of the eighth, but sophomore righty Logan Mason (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central) came on in relief and got Stephen Thomas to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end the threat.

In the home half of the inning, senior John Zarnowski (East Brunswick, N.J./St. Joseph's) drove in a run with an RBI double, Casey came through with an RBI single and junior Jake Elston (New Milford, Conn./Canterbury School) added an RBI double of his own as the trio of insurance runs extended the Scranton lead to 10-4.

The Cardinals got on the board first with a solo shot from Zach Burton, but Zarnowski plated a run with a sac fly in the bottom of the first to tie the game at one apiece. Senior Nick Reposa (Factoryville, Pa./Tunkhannock) added a sac fly in the second inning and Casey knocked home a run with an RBI groundout in the third to give the Royals a 3-1 edge for the time being.

Danny Prior was dealt the loss for Catholic after giving up two runs on two hits while walking two and fanning one in 2.0 IP.

Graduate student righty Daniel Johnson (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Immaculata) notched his fifth victory of the season for the Royals after allowing two runs on six hits while walking three and fanning four over five plus innings.

Senior Matthew Querey (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) delivered an RBI double in the fourth and scampered home on sophomore Conor Campbell's RBI single as Scranton opened up a 5-1 lead.

Following a Catholic solo home run in the top of the fifth, Elston added his second RBI double on the day as the Royals responded and made it a 6-2 game.

The Cardinals were able to trim the deficit to two at 6-4 in the seventh before sophomore Vincent Napolitano (Merrick, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) plated a run with an RBI groundout in the home half for Scranton.

Campbell (2-3, 2B, RBI), Elston (3-4, 3 2B, 2 RBI, 2 SB, 2 R) and Querey (4-5, 2B, RBI, 3 R) all tallied multi-hit games for the Royals and Casey and Zarnowski scored two runs apiece.

For Querey, the four hits marked a new career-high.

Senior Ryan Walsh (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Chaminade) got the final two outs in relief to preserve the victory for the Royals.

The two teams will play the rubber game of the series on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Washington, D.C.

--ROYALS--