Sophomore first baseman Patrick Mergel (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) went 3-for-3 with his first career home run and four RBIs as The University of Scranton baseball team scored six times in the final two innings to rally for an 11-8 win over Elizabethtown in the first game of a Landmark Conference doubleheader on Saturday at Connell Park.

Elizabethtown came back to post a 15-2 victory in the second game to force a split. The teams will complete the three-game series on Wednesday when they play a single nine-inning game at 3:30 p.m. at Connell Park.

In the opener, the Royals (5-7, 1-1 Landmark) trailed by scores of 3-1, 4-2 and 8-5 before scoring three times in the fifth and three more in the bottom of the sixth to pull out the victory. Mergel provided the go-ahead two-run single in the sixth, capping a day that also saw him single and score in the second inning, rip a solo homer in the third and draw a bases-loaded walk in the fifth.

Senior left fielder Brian Healy (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) also had a big game with an RBI triple in the first and a two-run homer in the third. He finished 2-for-2 with three RBIs and three runs. Senior right fielder Zach Dignam (Bridgewater, N.J./Immaculata) doubled twice and scored twice, and junior second baseman Anthony Simone (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley Senior) singled twice and scored twice.

Freshman righty Tim Derner (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) came through on the mound with a scoreless inning of relief for his first career win. Sophomore righty Anthony Caladie (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) pitched a scoreless seventh for his first career save.

In the second game, Elizabethtown (7-8, 1-1 Landmark) scored 10 times in the fifth to put the game away. Sophomore third baseman John Joe Gustin (Scranton, Pa./Scranton Prep) came off the bench to single twice and drive in a run, and Caladie added a double for the Royals.

Scranton is back in action on Tuesday, March 22, when the Royals head to Reading, Pa. to take on Albright at 3:30 p.m.

--ROYALS--