LANCASTER, PA – The University of Scranton baseball team dropped the first game of the day against Catholic, 7-2, but the Royals rebounded with a come from behind 18-14 victory against Elizabethtown to advance to the Championship.

The Basics

• Records: 
  • Scranton (22-19)
  • Catholic (26-16)
  • Elizabethtown (29-13)

Game One: Catholic – 7, Scranton – 2

How it Happened

• Catholic scored four runs in the first inning to take the early 4-0 lead.
• The Cardinals extended their lead to 5-0 in the top of the sixth inning with a solo home run.
• Senior Jake Elston got Scranton on the board in the bottom of the seventh inning with a solo home run.
• Scranton scored its second run of the day in the bottom of the seventh inning when senior TJ Pleban singled home graduate student Matthew Querey to cut the Cardinals lead to 5-2.
• The Cardinals added one insurance run in the eighth inning on an RBI double, and they did the same in the ninth to extend their lead to 7-2.
• The Royals got a runner on base in the ninth but could not sure as they fell 7-2 to Catholic.

Top Performers

• Elston went 2-3 with one home run and one run scored.
• Querey scored a run and tallied two hits.
• Graduate student Matthew Moreira pitched four innings and allowed just one run with two strikeouts in relief.

Game Two: Scranton – 18, Elizabethtown – 15

How it Happened

• Scranton opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when junior John Heitzman smashed a two-run home run over the right field wall to give Scranton a 2-0 lead. 
• With two outs and two runs already home in the first, senior Pat Coyne doubled down the left field line to bring in two more runs and make it a 4-0 game.
• Elizabethtown responded in the bottom of the first inning when Quinten Perilli ripped a two-run home run of his own to cut Scranton's lead in half.
• ETown took its first lead of the game at 6-4 in the second inning with a grand slam home run.
• The Blue Jays added three more runs on a two RBI double and an RBI single, taking a 9-4 lead into the third inning.
• In the fourth inning, the Royals scored four runs to tie the game at nine apiece. Junior Aidan Casey drew a bases loaded walk to bring in a run, then junior Conor Campbell brought home a run with a sacrifice fly, and then Heitzman mashed his second home run of the day to make the score 9-9.
• Elizabethtown responded in the bottom of the inning with three more runs on three separate RBI singles to go back in front 12-9.
• With two outs in the top of the fifth, after Pleban was hit by a pitch to reach base, he advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on another wild pitch to make it a 12-0 ETown lead.
• A two-run single in the bottom of the fifth inning plated a pair of runs for the Blue Jays as they extended their lead to 14-10.
• Scranton, continuing to claw its way back, scored its 11^th run of the game when Heitzman hit his third home run of the night to cut the deficit to three runs.
• With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the seventh inning, Querey singled to right field to score Campbell and Pleban and make it a one run game.
• After sophomore Jake Lopez walked to load the bases, Coyne hit a grounder to second base that the second baseman dove for but had no play, and both Heitzman and Querey came around to score to give Scranton a 15-14 lead.
• Scranton took a 16-14 lead as Pleban was hit by a pitch to force in the fifth Scranton run of the game. With junior Vincent Napolitano at the plate, an 0-2 pitch went to the backstop and Coyne came in to score the 17^th run of the game.
• With a three-run lead heading into the ninth inning, Scranton added an insurance run when sophomore Jimmy Lundari ripped an RBI single to left to make it 18-14.
• ETown plated a run in the bottom of the ninth inning on an RBI double. 
• With runners on second and third and two outs, the Royals called on junior Logan Mason to pitch with the tying run at the plate and the top of the Blue Jays order coming up. Mason, who pitched a scoreless inning in relief against the Blue Jays in yesterday's game, got the final out to send Scranton to the Landmark Championship.

Top Performers

• Heitzman had four hits including three home runs, driving in six runs for Scranton.
• Senior Jimmy Murray pitched 3 innings and allowed just one run on two hits with four strikeouts.
• Coyne went 2-4 with four RBI.

Up Next:

• The baseball team will play Catholic University in the Landmark Championship tomorrow, with the first game of the day set for 11:00 AM.