By Kirsten Hatton Staff writer
The Susquehanna baseball team won two games of a three-game series at Moravian the weekend of April 8 and 9.
The first game on April 8 began with a four-run first inning for the River Hawks, including singles from senior designated hitter Dylan Jenkins, junior shortstop Cole Luzins and sophomore third baseman Ben Burman.
The River Hawks added two more runs in the next inning on a wild pitch, an error and two walks.
In the third they added another two runs to make the game 8-0. Moravian responded in the next three innings to cut the River Hawks’ lead in half.
In the eighth, senior second baseman Danny Gordon singled down the right field line to score Burman, and senior first baseman Cory Fallon to make the score 10-4.
In the ninth, Luzins had a ground-rule double down the right field line to score junior catcher Zach Leone. Fallon singled to center field to score Luzins to make the final score 12-4.
Freshman pitcher Bobby Grigas earned the win by pitching six innings with five strikeouts, and sophomore pitcher James Panzarino got the save as he closed the game by pitching three shutout innings.
On April 9, the River Hawks played the last two games of the series.
In the first game, the River Hawks and Greyhounds battled to a scoreless game through the first seven innings.
The eighth inning turned out to be big one for the River Hawks as they scored six runs on six hits.
Luzins started the inning off with a single followed by a double by Fallon. Sophomore centerfielder Nick Berger hit into a fielder’s choice and Luzins was thrown out at home.
Gordon singled to left field to score Fallon. Junior leftfielder Tom Giamo singled to right field to score Berger and Gordon. Senior rightfielder Taylor Luckenbill doubled down the right field line to score Giamo. Leone finished off the inning by adding another two runs with a homer to left center.
Luzins finished the day three for three, while Fallon, Gordon and Leone each had a pair of hits.
“We couldn’t have pulled away the two wins without everybody contributing. We can always count on one another to get the job done,” Luzins said.
The second game of the day began with Burman hitting a two-out single in the second inning to score Jenkins.
The game remained a one-run game until the sixth inning when Burman hit a sacrifice fly to score Leone from third. Berger hit a single to score Jenkins to make the game 3-0.
Moravian responded with two runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 3-2.
The top of the seventh was scoreless for the River Hawks, and the Greyhounds tied the game in the bottom of the seventh and won the game on a sacrifice fly to score the winning run from third.
When asked what the key to continue to improve this season is, Luzins said: “It’s just a question of execution. Like coach said, we know what we have to do and what we are capable of. But when the situation presents itself, we have to act on it.”
On April 13, the River Hawks scored 10 runs in the final two innings to come from behind to beat Wesley 17-10. Susquehanna fell behind 8-1 in the first two innings, before holding Wesley to two runs over the last six innings.
The Susquehanna bats woke up in the fifth inning, scoring five runs to cut the deficit to 9-7. The River Hawks added six more runs in the seventh to take the lead, and they cemented the win with four more runs in the eighth inning, including Fallon’s sixth home run of the season.
The River Hawks improved their record 14-12 and 6-3 in the conference. They return home on April 14 and 15 to host a three-game series against Juniata.
Susquehanna is the defending conference champion, but the Riverhawks currently sit two games back of Catholic for the top spot in the conference this season.
Susquehanna does not have any head-to-head matchups with Catholic remaining this year, but the River Hawks do have nine Landmark Conference games remaining to gain ground on the Cardinals.
