SCRANTON, Pa. – Freshman Jake Elston (New Milford, Conn./Canterbury School) snuck a ball through the Misericordia third baseman's legs which rolled down the left field line to plate graduate student Kevin Johnson (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central) from first in the bottom of the 13th inning and give The University of Scranton baseball team (18-5-1) a wild 10-9 victory over the Cougars (18-11) on Monday evening at Volpe Field in Scranton.
Johnson had singled to left with one out in the bottom of the 13th for his third hit of the day.
Connor Maryniak was dealt the loss for Misericordia as he allowed the unearned run on one hit and fanned one in an inning of work.
For the Royals, freshman right-hander Kevin Keil (Egg Harbor Township, N.J./Atlantic County Institute of Technology) was impressive in four shutout innings of relief as he scattered one hit and fanned three to earn his third victory of the season.
The lone hit that Keil allowed came in the top of the 12th and the Cougars had runners at first and second with one away when Elston made a diving snag at third base on a ball of the bat of Garrett McIlhenney, touched the bag for one out and fired across the diamond to complete the 5-3 double play.
This marked the Royals' first win against the Cougars since 2009.
Misericordia got on the board with a run in the third inning and led 6-0 after a five-run sixth including a two-run double from Santino Manganella. The Royals cut the deficit in half with a three-run seventh as senior Tyler Kirsten (Wallenpaupack, Pa./Wallenpaupack Area) and sophomore Corey Zientek (Sugarloaf, Pa./Hazleton Area) both delivered RBI singles, while junior Nick Reposa (Factoryville, Pa./Tunkhannock) added a sac fly in the inning.
Trailing 6-3, Scranton loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth via a hit by pitch, walk and single. Graduate student Connor Harding (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) followed with an RBI single and Zientek drew a bases loaded walk to set the stage for Kirsten's grand slam that gave the hosts a 9-6 advantage.
The home run was Kirsten's second of the season and he ranks second in the Landmark Conference with 34 RBI on the year.
Misericordia answered with three runs in the top of the ninth without the benefit of a hit to send the game to extra innings at 9-9.
Sophomore right-hander Thomas Plunkett (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck) got the start for the Royals and surrendered five runs (four earned) on four hits to go along with two walks and four strikeouts over 5 1/3 IP in a no-decision. The Cougars' Max Oliver gave up seven hits while walking two and fanning four in five scoreless innings.
Five different players tallied multi-hit games for head coach Mike Bartoletti's club and Harding matched his career-high with four hits. Johnson and Zientek added three hits apiece and the latter drove in two runs.
In relief for the Royals, sophomore southpaw Matthew Moreira (Union, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) struck out a pair and did not allow a hit in 2 1/3 shutout frames.
The University of Scranton baseball team hits the road to face Wilkes on Wednesday afternoon with first pitch slated for 3:30 p.m.
--ROYALS--