HUNTINGDON, Pa. (April 12, 2014) – The Drew University baseball team swept a crucial doubleheader at Juniata College Saturday in Landmark Conference action to place itself in a playoff position with eight league games remaining in 2014.
 
A pair of rookie starting pitchers helped the Rangers (11-13, 5-5 Landmark) take the two conference games, 6-1 in Game 1, and 7-6 in the second game of the twin bill.
 
Tommy Broyles got his first career win on the mound in the first game after throwing six innings, allowing one run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Junior closer Matthew Hunter shut the door on the victory with a perfect seventh inning.
 
"Tommy pitched extremely well," head coach Brian Hirschberg said. "He was getting stronger as the game was going on and he was able to make the adjustments that he needed to make from his last outing. He was working down in the zone and throwing multiple pitches for strikes."
 
The Eagles (5-22) jumped ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning, but Broyles settled down as his offense backed him up. Drew tied the game in the third after junior shortstop Steve Kowalski singled home senior catcher Matthew Kaplon. The Rangers took the lead for good in the next at-bat when freshman designated hitter Jonathan Rodrigues grounded out for an RBI to score senior center fielder Dominic Reyes.
 
Sophomore first baseman Bobby Miskura went 2-for-4 in Game 1 with a run scored and two RBIs on a single in the fifth to give the Rangers a 5-1 lead. Sophomore third baseman Mike Klinger recorded an RBI single an at-bat earlier for the 4-1 advantage.
 
Sophomore second baseman Anthony Feltre (2-for-4) capped the four-run fifth inning with an RBI single to plate Miskura.
 
Juniata again struck first in Game 2, this time with two runs in the top of the first. For the second straight game Saturday, a freshman pitcher settled down to put his team in position to win. Michael Manfra hurled six innings to also earn his first career win, allowing four runs on six hits, six walks and six strikeouts.
 
Manfra picked off three base runners on Saturday, including two in the third inning with the score tied 2-2.
 
"Mike is a bulldog," Hirschberg said. "He helps himself out with his play in the field. He picked off three guys and made a diving play on a bunt; I've never seen that kind of defensive stat line from a pitcher in my career. He's a competitor. He didn't have all his stuff working today, but he gutted it out because he's a tough kid."
 
In a back-and-forth battle, junior catcher Robert Auletti's clutch hitting proved to be the difference. The Drew backstop went 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the Game 2 victory. His RBI groundout in the second cut the Juniata lead to 2-1, and his RBI single in the fourth plated Miskura for the 3-2 lead.
 
Auletti added an important insurance run in the fifth with an RBI single, again scoring Miskura. Drew won the contest 7-6 after the Eagles scored three runs with their last licks in the bottom of the seventh.
 
"Rob was as clutch as it gets today," Hirschberg said. "Every time we scored, Juniata came back and put pressure on us. What I give our guys credit for is that when the pressure was back on us, we got the clutch hit. Rob was instrumental in getting these wins today."
 
Miskura followed up a solid Game 1 performance with a 3-for-3 stint at the plate in the second game, while scoring three runs. He also added an RBI infield single in the three-run fifth inning to help Drew take the 5-3 lead. He scored the eventual game-winning run.
 
Kowalski and Rodrigues anchored the top of the Rangers' lineup with impressive production. Kowalksi went 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI, while Rodrigues batted 2-for-5 with a run and one RBI.
 
After Saturday's Landmark action, Drew is positioned in the fourth and final playoff spot for the conference tournament and can control its own fate. The Rangers (5-5) are tied with third-place The Catholic University of America (6-5) and fifth-place The United States Merchant Marine Academy (4-5) in the loss column. The Mariners hold the tiebreaker over Drew by winning the season series 2-1, and the Catholic series is tied 1-1 with the crucial finale set for Friday, April 25 at Doc Young Field.
 
Drew returns to action on Sunday, April 13 to conclude the Juniata series with the nine-inning game scheduled for noon in Huntingdon.