SCRANTON, Pa. – The University of Scranton baseball team (15-6, 7-1 Landmark) scored 31 runs in two games and completed a second consecutive series sweep with victories of 16-5 and 15-10 over the Juniata College Eagles (2-16, 0-6) in Landmark Conference action on Sunday afternoon at Volpe Field in Scranton.
Head coach Mike Bartoletti's team has won seven straight overall.
Scranton 16, Juniata 5
The Royals scored in each of their final six trips to the plate and broke the game open with a seven-run eighth as part of the 16-5 win.
Things were scoreless until the bottom of the third when a hit by pitch and a single put two runners on and junior Corey Zientek (Sugarloaf, Pa./Hazleton Area) knocked home the first run of the day with an RBI single. Graduate student Jake Lisicky (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) followed with a sac fly and junior John Zarnowski (East Brunswick, N.J./St. Joseph's) plated Zientek with an RBI double for a 3-0 lead.
In the home half of the fourth, junior TJ Pleban (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton Area) delivered an RBI single and Scranton added two more runs in the fifth including an RBI single from sophomore Jake Elston (New Milford, Conn./Canterbury School) that made it a 6-0 game at the time. From there, Juniata began to battle back and scored five runs in the sixth that cut the deficit to one after David Beard's two-run triple.
Senior right-hander Hunter Ralston (Duryea, Pa./Pittston Area) allowed five runs on eight hits to go along with five strikeouts in 5 1/3 IP and improved to 3-1 on the year for the Royals.
Chase Alessandroni was dealt the loss for Juniata after giving up six runs on seven hits while walking two and fanning five over 4 2/3 IP.
Zientek came through with an inside the park home run on a fly ball down the right field line in the sixth inning and Pleban drove in his second run of the day with an RBI single in the seventh that extended the lead to 9-5.
Scranton broke the game open in the afore-mentioned eighth inning as Lisicky and senior Braden Breithaupt (Canadensis, Pa./Stroudsburg) both knocked in runs with RBI doubles, graduate student Dan Crossan (Media, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) plated a pair with a two-run double and juniors Jack Heineman (Abington, Pa./LaSalle College) and Matthew Querey (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) tallied RBI singles.
Querey (3-5, RBI, SB, R) tied his career-high with three hits in the victory and Breithaupt (2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, R), Heineman (2-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R), Pleban (2-2, 2 RBI, R) and Zientek (2-6, HR, 2 RBI, SB, 2 R) all registered two hits apiece.
In relief of Ralston, senior lefty Jason Carpenter (Scranton, Pa./Scranton), graduate student Ryan Heiser (New Milford, N.J./Saint Joseph Regional) and junior right-hander Ryan Walsh (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Chaminade) all recorded scoreless outings. Carpenter and Heiser both struck out a pair in their respective outings.
Carpenter entered the game with the tying run at third in a 6-5 game in the sixth and notched back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
Scranton 15, Juniata 10
After Juniata cut the lead to 10-9 in the seventh, the Royals immediately responded with four runs of their own in the home half and held on for the 15-10 win.
The Eagles struck first in the nightcap with a run in the top of the first and the Royals tied the game at one in the second when junior Pat Coyne (Randolph, N.J./Morristown-Beard) reached with a one-out single, advanced to second on a single and scored on Querey's RBI single.
Juniata scored solo runs in each of the next two frames, but the Royals held a 6-3 lead after four innings thanks to a three-run blast from freshman Conor Campbell (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) and an RBI single from Zientek.
The home run was the first of Campbell's career.
Robbie Pliszka was tagged with the loss for the Eagles after giving up four runs on six hits while walking two in 3.0 IP.
For the Royals, junior lefty Matthew Moreira (Union, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) gave up five runs (one earned) on four hits to go along with two walks and two strikeouts over 4 1/3 IP in a no-decision. Sophomore righty Dominic Chieffalo (Norristown, Pa./Malvern Prep) allowed two hits and struck out one over two innings of relief to notch his second win of the season.
Freshman Vincent Napolitano (Merrick, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) plated a run with an RBI single in the fifth and the Royals tacked on three more in the sixth behind a sac fly from Heineman and an error and a hit batsman later in the inning for a 10-5 lead.
The Eagles cut the lead to 10-9 with four runs in the seventh and had runners at second and third with two outs following a wild pitch, but freshman right-hander Jackson Bullaro (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) got Matthew Quigley to ground to third and end the inning.
In the home half of the frame, freshman Logan Mason (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central) delivered a clutch two-run double to go along with RBI from Coyne and Heineman later in the inning. Zientek hit a solo shot down the left field line in the eighth for his third home run in as many games and the 15th run of the game.
Bullaro did not allow a hit and struck out one over 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Lisicky (3-4, 3 R) led the way offensively with three hits, while Campbell (2-5, HR, 3 RBI, R), Heineman (2-4, 2 RBI, 3 SB, 2 R), Napolitano (2-3, RBI) and Zientek (2-5, HR, 2 RBI, SB, 2 R) each posted two hits apiece in the victory.
The Royals are back in action on Tuesday afternoon at Susquehanna with first pitch slated for 4 p.m.
--ROYALS--