SCRANTON, Pa. – The University of Scranton baseball team (11-6, 4-1 Landmark) completed a weekend sweep of the Drew Rangers (10-8, 1-5 Landmark) with a pair of victories on Sunday afternoon at Volpe Field as the Royals scored 28 runs in the two games.
Scranton notched a 16-2 victory in game one before posting a 12-6 win in the nightcap.
Scranton 16, Drew 2
The Royals led 4-1 after four innings and then exploded for 12 runs in the fifth to break the game open en route to the 16-2 win.
In the home half of the first, junior Corey Zientek (Sugarloaf, Pa./Hazleton Area) reached on a fielder's choice, stole second, took third on a throwing error and scored on an RBI single from graduate student Jake Lisicky (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) for an early 1-0 lead.
After Drew tied the game with a solo run in the top of the second, Scranton immediately responded with two in the home half including an RBI double from junior Matthew Querey (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum). Fellow junior TJ Pleban (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton Area) drove in one of his career-high four runs with an RBI single in the fourth that made it a 4-1 game and set the stage for the afore-mentioned 12-run fifth.
The first eight batters reached base for the Royals in the fifth as Pleban knocked in a pair with a two-run single, senior Nick Reposa (Factoryville, Pa./Tunkhannock) plated a pair with a two-run double, freshman Conor Campbell (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) delivered a two-run single and graduate student Dan Crossan (Media, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) along with sophomore Jake Elston (New Milford, Conn./Canterbury School) both came through with RBI doubles in the frame.
Giovanni DeGiglio was dealt the loss for the Rangers as he allowed 11 runs on nine hits to go along with one walk in 4 1/3 IP.
For the Royals, senior right-hander Hunter Ralston (Duryea, Pa./Pittston Area) allowed two runs on four hits and matched his career- high with seven strikeouts over seven innings of work. Freshman righty Aidan Rumain (Martinsville, N.J./Immaculata) and junior righty Johnny Flannigan (Huntington, N.Y./St. Dominic) followed Ralston in relief and both registered scoreless frames.
Senior Braden Breithaupt (Canadensis, Pa./Stroudsburg) tallied a pair of hits and scored three runs for the Royals, while Pleban (2-3, 4 RBI, R), Reposa (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R) and Zientek (2-3, RBI, 3 SB, 3 R) also tallied multi-hit games in the victory.
Scranton 12, Drew 6
The Royals grabbed an early 5-2 lead after two innings and later put the game out of reach with three runs in the sixth en route to the 12-6 victory.
In the home half of the first inning, Scranton struck for three runs as a double and hit by pitch put two runners on before junior Jack Heineman (Abington, Pa./LaSalle College) came through with an RBI single and Campbell followed with a two-run single.
After Drew's Billy Coleman briefly cut it to a one-run game with a two-run blast, the Royals answered with a pair of their own in the home half of the second when Querey plated Elston with an RBI single and later scored on an RBI triple from Zientek.
The Royals led 5-3 in the fourth before two singles and a hit by pitch loaded the bases and Zientek cleared the bases with a three-run triple down the left field line that extended the lead to 8-3.
Kyle Johnson was tagged with the loss for Drew after allowing eight runs on 10 hits in 4.0 IP.
Drew began to battle back and cut the lead in half with three runs in the sixth to draw within 9-6, but head coach Mike Bartoletti's team once again answered with two in the bottom of the inning as Heineman knocked in a run with a sac fly and Campbell tacked on an RBI single.
Reposa added an RBI single to plate Querey in the seventh and account for the Royals' 12th run of the game.
Junior lefty Matthew Moreira (Union, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) gave up five runs (four earned) on five hits in five plus innings and got the win for Scranton. Graduate student lefty Ryan Heiser (New Milford, N.J./Saint Joseph Regional) fanned four and allowed just one run in three innings of relief, while senior southpaw Jason Carpenter (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) followed Heiser with a scoreless frame to preserve the victory.
Zientek tied his career-high with four hits including a double and triple to go along with four RBI, while Querey matched his career-best with three hits and also stole a base and scored three runs. Campbell, Elston and Lisicky all added two hits apiece as part of a 16-hit attack for Scranton.
The Royals will host Muhlenberg in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday afternoon at Volpe Field with first pitch set for 5 p.m.
--ROYALS--