HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The University of Scranton baseball team swept Juniata on Saturday, 6-4 and 16-9, to move into a first-place tie in the Landmark Conference and give Mike Bartoletti 200 career victories as the Royals' head coach.
Scranton (12-11, 9-5 Landmark) has now won five straight and will go for its first series sweep when the Royals face Juniata in the final game of the series on Sunday at noon. The Royals are tied with Elizabethtown atop the Landmark Conference standings, a half-game ahead of Susquehanna.
Bartoletti is in his 13th season at the helm at Scranton, and has led the Royals to the Landmark Conference championship three times in the past seven seasons, including a 2008 season in which the Royals won a school-record 26 games.
The Royals built a 6-2 lead in the opener by scoring twice in the third and then four times in the fifth after the Eagles had rallied to tie the game. Sophomore shortstop Patrick O'Dell (Harleysville, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) had an RBI single and senior right fielder Zach Dignam (Bridgewater, N.J./Immaculata) had an RBI sac fly in the third inning.
O'Dell added another RBI single in the fifth, junior left fielder Brian Healy (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) had an RBI on an error and later scored on a double steal, and the Royals also scored a run in the inning on a passed ball.
Senior righty Matthew Calamoneri (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) picked up the win on the mound by allowing four runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out a season-high eight. Senior Josh Bayzick (Sugarloaf, Pa./Hazleton Area) came on in the seventh and retired the only three hitters he faced.
O'Dell finished the game 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run, freshman center fielder Tommy Trotter (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) had two hits and scored a run, and senior designated hitter Michael Umerich (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) had two hits.
In the second game, Scranton took control right away with seven runs in the top of the first as Umerich had a two-run double and O'Dell added a two-run single in the inning.
The Royals added a run in the fourth inning on an RBI by Healy, and broke the game open with eight runs in the top of the seventh. Freshman Justin Howell (Millington, N.J./Watchung Hills) had a pair of RBI singles in the inning, and fellow freshman Chase Standen (Newtown Square, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) delivered a pinch-hit RBI triple in the inning.
Senior first baseman Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy, N.J.) finished the second game with four hits, two RBIs and two runs scored, O'Dell had two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored, Umerich finished with a single, double, two RBIs and a run, and freshman Michael Ratner (Langhorne, Pa./The Pennington School) had two hits, two runs and an RBI.
--ROYALS--