PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – The University of Scranton baseball scored a pair of runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings on Sunday against Bridgewater State and strong efforts by a trio of pitchers made the runs stand as the Royals defeated the Bears 6-5.
The win was the second in a row for Scranton, now 2-3 on the young season. Bridgewater fell to 0-2 with the setback to the Royals.
Junior Bobby Hegarty (Wantagh, N.Y/Wantagh) earned the win on the mound for the Royals, tossing six innings in which he allowed just one earned run while striking out three batters and yielding five hits.
Freshman Ryan Heiser (New Milford, N.J./Saint Joseph Regional) fanned two batters and gave up one run in 1.1 innings of work before turning the ball over to freshman Josh Lydon (Shavertown, Pa./Dallas), who retired the final five Bridgewater batters to record his first collegiate save.
Four Royals recorded two hits apiece on the day: sophomore Connor Harding (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal)junior Kevin Haag (Ossining, N.Y./Ossining/Bridgton Academy (Maine)), senior Ian McIntosh (Newtown, Pa./LaSalle College H.S.), and junior Travis Adams (Clark, N.J./St. Joseph's Metuchen) with Haag collecting a pair of doubles.
Bridgewater opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning on Sunday before Scranton leveled the ballgame up at 2-2 in the home third with Adams coming home on an error before freshman Tyler Kirsten (Wallenpaupack, Pa./Wallenpaupack Area) delivered an RBI single.
The Royals swung ahead 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth, but the Bears tied it with a pair of unearned runs in the visitor's fifth.
Scranton came right back with two more runs in the home fifth as Haag scored on an error before sophomore Kevin Johnson (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central) drove in the eventual game-winning run with a base hit.
Bridgewater closed out the scoring with a run in the top of the eighth before Lydon shut the door for the save.
Scranton will enjoy a day off on Monday before returning to action on Tuesday evening when they take on Ohio Wesleyan. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. in Port Charlotte, Fla.
--ROYALS--