By Mike Henken, Staff Writer
The Susquehanna baseball team successfully completed a three-game sweep over Landmark Conference-rival Elizabethtown this past weekend in Selinsgrove, Pa.
“What led to our success this weekend was the fact that every sophomore, junior and senior on the team has lost at least one series a season in past years here and I think that really lit a fire in our stomachs,” junior outfielder Justin Miller said. “The fan section was fantastic as well.”
The series began on Saturday, April 6 with the River Hawks winning the first game 7–4.
Susquehanna got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 6–0 lead over the first two innings.
In the first inning, sophomore outfielder Steve Lorenz drove in two runs with a double down the left-field line. Then in the second inning, junior infielder Anthony Dombrowski drove in a run on a bunt single before three more unearned runs crossed the plate.
With a lead under his belt, freshman pitcher Ryan Monroy pitched well for the most part, keeping the Blue Jays to just one run up until the sixth inning. In that inning, Elizabethtown added three runs to trim the lead, but senior pitcher Evan McKenna came in to stop the bleeding.
Junior outfielder Chris Corrado also added one more RBI for the River Hawks to secure the 7–4 victory.
Game two proved to more of a pitcher’s duel, as junior pitcher Tyson Thrush led the River Hawks to a 3–2 win.
In the second inning, Lorenz continued his hot streak, sending a long home run to right field to give Susquehanna an early 1–0 lead.
Over the first six innings of play, the score remained 1–0 as Thrush remained dominant on the mound, giving up zero hits and only two walks. In the seventh inning, the Blue Jays finally found some success, scoring two runs on a two-out hit to take a 2–1 lead.
Sophomore catcher Peter Yarem tied the game at two in the eighth inning with an RBI double. Sophomore pitcher Will Carey and junior pitcher Bobby Grigas kept the Blue Jays at bay heading into the ninth innning.
Lorenz once again came through at the plate, driving in the game winning run on a walk-off single to left field to secure the 3–2 victory for the River Hawks.
Unlike the second game of the series, the third game proved to be more of an offensive affair, but Susquehanna once again came out on top, winning 8–7 on Sunday, April 7.
Early on, the River Hawks struggled a bit at the plate and Elizabethtown was able to get on the board first with two runs in the top of the second inning to take a 2–0 lead. The Blue Jays then added another run in the top of the fourth inning to extend the lead to 3–0.
In the bottom half of that inning however, Susquehanna found its groove offensively and rallied to score five runs.
Senior infielder Ben Burman drove in a run on an RBI before Lorenz connected on an RBI double. Corrado then drove in three runs on a single to give Susquehanna a 5–3 lead.
In the sixth inning, two more runs crossed the plate for the River Hawks, extending the lead to 7–3. The Blue Jays quickly responded and scored four runs in the eighth inning to tie the game at seven.
In the bottom half of that inning however, Miller connected on a clutch RBI single to reclaim the lead for Susquehanna.
“The feeling was awesome,” Miller said. “I didn’t really play well on Saturday and I knew on Sunday that I would get an opportunity to help the team and it only takes one time in the game of baseball to help out your team and I’m glad it was then.”
Grigas was then able to successfully shut down Elizabethtown to secure an 8–7 victory for the River Hawks.