SCRANTON, Pa. – Junior outfielder Corey Zientek (Sugarloaf, Pa./Hazleton Area) hit for the cycle and The University of Scranton baseball team (13-6, 4-1 Landmark) exploded for a season-high 24 runs as the Royals notched a 24-14 victory over the Juniata Eagles (2-14, 0-4 Landmark) in Saturday's series opener at Volpe Field in Scranton.
The 24 runs are the most the Royals have scored since a 29-11 win over Marywood on Mar. 26, 2019.
Zientek completed the cycle with an RBI double as part of a four-run eighth for the Royals and matched his career-high with four hits. He also drove in six runs on the day, which marks the seventh time this season that he has driven in three or more runs.
Scranton struck first with four runs in the home half of the second as a single, walk and hit by pitch loaded the bases with one away before junior Matthew Querey (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) was also hit by a pitch which brought home the first run of the inning and senior Nick Reposa (Factoryville, Pa./Tunkhannock) along with graduate student Jake Lisicky (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) both delivered RBI singles later in the inning.
Zientek hit a two-run blast over the wall in left centerfield as part of a five-run third inning and juniors TJ Pleban (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton Area) and John Zarnowski (East Brunswick, N.J./St. Joseph's) each added an RBI single in the frame. Pleban later stole home as the Royals opened up a 9-0 lead after three.
Jack Dovidio was dealt the loss for Juniata as he allowed four runs on six hits while walking one in two innings of work.
Juniata began to battle back with four runs in the fourth, but the Royals immediately responded one in the home half and three more in the fifth to take a 13-4 lead for the time being. Pleban hit a solo shot to left in the fourth and sophomore Jake Elston (New Milford, Conn./Canterbury School) plated junior Jack Heineman (Abington, Pa./LaSalle College) with an RBI single in the fifth after senior Braden Breithaupt (Canadensis, Pa./Stroudsburg) had knocked in a run with a sac fly.
In the top of the sixth, the Eagles once again drew within five at 13-8 but Scranton answered with four in the home half including a two-run blast from Breithaupt that made it a 17-8 advantage. The Royals tacked on three more in the seventh when Zientek knocked in a run with an RBI triple, junior Pat Coyne (Randolph, N.J./Morristown-Beard) added an RBI double and Heineman came through with an RBI single.
Senior right-hander Daniel Johnson (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Immaculata) allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 12 hits and fanned three over 5 1/3 IP to record his third victory of the season for the Royals. Freshman righty Ryan Boyd (Millwood, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) struck out a pair over 1 2/3 shutout innings in relief of Johnson.
In the home half of the eighth, Zientek plated a pair with a two-run double before senior Robert Beyer (Bedford, N.Y./Fordham Prep) added an RBI double and junior Aidan Plick (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) scored Zientek with a sac fly for the 24th run of the game.
Six different players tallied multi-hit games for the Royals as part of a season-best 25-hit attack. Heineman and Zientek both matched their career-highs with four hits, while Pleban had a season-high three and the trio of Elston, Lisicky and Reposa tallied two apiece.
The two teams will close out the series with a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon at Volpe Field and first pitch of game one is set for 12 p.m.
--ROYALS--