When The University of Scranton and Elizabethtown College baseball teams get together, you can count on a lot of offense. On Wednesday, it was the Royals who had just a little more pop in their bats, outslugging the Blue Jays, 18-14, to win the rubber game of the three-game Landmark Conference series on Wednesday at Connell Park.
The win capped a three-game series that saw the teams combine for 68 runs, including a 32-run, 37-hit outburst on Wednesday. Scranton (7-7, 2-1 Landmark) scored in seven of eight innings to pull past Elizabethtown (8-9, 1-2 Landmark), which scored nine times in the first two innings.
Last season, the Royals defeated Elizabethtown, 22-13, in the opening game of the series, which the Blue Jays eventually won with 4-3 and 6-5 wins in the final two games. Wednesday's game was more like last season's opener.
The Blue Jays opened the game with four runs in the top of the first, but Scranton responded with five of its own in the bottom half. Sophomore first baseman Patrick Mergel (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) had the big blow, launching a three-run homer, his second round-tripper of the series after homering in the 11-8 win in Saturday's opening game.
Elizabethtown scored five of its own in the top half of the second to reclaim the lead, 9-5. The Royals responded with a pair in the bottom half, including a solo homer by senior right fielder Zach Dignam (Bridgewater, N.J./Immaculata).
The Royals then took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the third, powered by RBI singles from Dignam and sophomore center fielder Tommy Trotter (Cranford, N.J./Cranford). Junior second baseman Anthony Simone (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley Senior) drilled a long solo homer in the fourth for a 11-9 lead before Elizabethtown got a run back in the top of the fifth.
Scranton took control in the sixth with four runs on a two-run double by senior left fielder Brian Healy (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) and a two-run single from Simone. When Mergel doubled in a pair in the bottom of the seventh, the lead grew to 17-10.
But Elizabethtown wasn't done, scoring four times in the top of the eighth to get within 17-14. Dignam added an insurance run with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth, and the Royals held the Blue Jays in the ninth despite a double and a walk to start the inning.
Simone led the offense, going 4-for-4 with four RBIs, three runs and a stolen base. Dignam finished 4-for-5 with a double and a homer, four runs, three RBIs and a stolen base, and Trotter gave Scranton a trio of players with four hits, finishing 4-for-6 with two RBIs, two runs and a stolen base.
Mergel finished with a double, homer, five RBIs and two runs, and junior designated hitter Patrick O'Dell (Phoenixville, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) and sophomore shortstop Brad Schneider (Ambler, Pa./LaSalle College H.S.) both singled, doubled, scored twice and drove in a run.
Sophomore lefty Brian Markowski (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) gave the Royals a boost out of the bullpen, allowing just one run on four hits and four walks while striking out five in four innings to pick up the win.
The Royals are back in action on Saturday when they host Moravian in a Landmark Conference doubleheader beginning at 12:30 p.m. at Connell Park.
--ROYALS--