SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Cliff Smith became the third coach in Elizabethtown College's storied baseball history to win 200 games and the Blue Jays swept Susquehanna by scores of 5-2 and 1-0 Saturday to punch their ticket to the Landmark Conference Championships.
GAME 1
E-town Lineup: 1. Facker 2b, 2. Holbert cf, 3. Weary lf, 4. Gatti 1b, 5. Smith dh, 6. Lorenz 3b, 7. Rahn rf, 8. Ragozzino c, 9. Kibler ss, SP Davis
Susquehanna Lineup: 1. Luckenbill rf, 2. Shields c, 3. J. Cassinelli lf, 4. Leone dh, 5. M. Cassinelli cf, 6. Palsi 3b, 7. Jenkins 1b, 8. Kennedy ss, 9. Glassmire 2b, SP Hood
Kristopher Davis kept his pristine record in tact, scattering six hits over six innings for his seventh win of the season.
Two-out RBI singles from Frank Ragozzino and Austin Kibler gave E-town a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning, and though the Crusaders would respond with a run right away, the Blue Jays wasted little time increasing their lead.
An error by the SU shortstop allowed Alex Holbert to reach base to start the third and another error from the Crusaders' infield extended the inning further.
Nick Lorenz pushed the Jays' lead to 3-0 on a single to center field, before Aaron Rahn came up and drove in another run on a ground out to second.
Davis would face the minimum number of batters in the first, third, fourth and sixth innings. Smith put his ace back out for the seventh, but Nick Kennedy led off with a single to right and Dylan Glassmire walked, forcing Davis to turn the ball over to Sean Jones.
Jones quickly put the clamps on SU, retiring all three batters he faced for his second save of the season.
Luke Gatti went 2-for-4 and five different players accounted for all five Blue Jay RBIs. Eight players in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit.
Kennedy and Matt Cassinelli had two hits apiece for the Crusaders, who were eliminated from tournament contention with the loss. Starting pitcher Casey Hood went the distance, giving up five unearned runs and striking out three.
GAME 2
E-town Lineup: 1. Fackler 2b, 2. Holbert cf, 3. Weary lf, 4. Gatti 1b, 5. Smith dh, 6. Lorenz 3b, 7. Rahn rf, 8. Canuso c, 9. Kibler ss, SP Elwell
Susquehanna Lineup: 1. Semmel rf, 2. Musilli lf, 3. J. Cassinelli 1b, 4. Leone c, 5. M. Cassinelli cf, 6. Rucerto dh, 7. Luzins 3b, 8. Kinneally ss, 9. Gordon 2b, SP Hotaling
Hits were at a premium in game two, but much like they did earlier this season against Catholic, the Blue Jays (24-12, 13-7 Landmark) found a way to get the job done.
Two points of irony were at the forefront of Cliff Smith's 200th win.
The first was starting pitcher Kevin Elwell's two-hit shutout, his second of the season. It was Elwell who threw a complete game two-hitter back on March 22 as E-town beat Catholic, 1-0, in Washington, D.C., despite being one hit.
Saturday, Elwell struck out four and did not issue a walk to even his record at 4-4. The sophomore carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Cole Luzins broke it up with a two-out single.
Susquehanna's (16-17, 9-11 Landmark) next batter, Jimmy Kinneally hit into a fielder's choice, to end the inning. The Crusaders failed to advance a runner past second base against Elwell.
Things weren't coming much easier for Elizabethtown offensively. They were kept in check by Spencer Hotaling, who struck out six and allowed only three hits.
With two outs in the top of the sixth, Tyler Weary stepped into the box against Hotaling. Ironic in the fact that Weary was the only E-town starter not to record a hit in game one.
Moments later, no one remembered. Weary drove a Hotaling offering out of the park for his second home run of the season. It turned out to be the only scoring in the game and E-town put itself in position to host a home Landmark Conference semifinal series with a win in tomorrow's series finale.
Weary had two of Elizabethtown's three hits and Gatti was 1-for-3.
Smith joins Owen Wright (258) and John Gergic (228) as Blue Jay coaches with 200 wins. Now in his ninth season, Smith has led Elizabethtown to two conference titles and NCAA tournament appearances (2007 and 2009).
ON DECK
The Blue Jays go for their third conference sweep as Landmark regular season play comes to a close tomorrow at Susquehanna. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
