MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – The Susquehanna University baseball team (0-2) put an end to 371 days away from the diamond Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader on the road against Penn State Harrisburg (2-0). The host Lions claimed an early 5-0 in the first game of the afternoon and never looked back in route to a 7-2 opening victory. Susquehanna pushed Penn State Harrisburg to 10 innings in the nightcap but succumbed to a 5-4 loss.
 
Game 1 – Susquehanna 2, Penn State Harrisburg 7
How It Happened
Penn State Harrisburg opened up a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the opening inning thanks to a three-run homer by senior outfielder Bret Williams, the third hitter, with no outs on the scoreboard. The Lions began with a single and a walk before Williams came to the plate.
 
Another home run, this time by junior outfielder Chris Flynn, the ninth hitter, allowed the Lions to add two more in the second inning.
 
First-year southpaw Teagan Duffie (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone Area) relieved sophomore starter Landon Ness (York, Pa./Central York) at the start of the third and quieted Penn State Harrisburg's bats, striking out the side in order.
 
Susquehanna landed its first baserunner of the game in the top of the fourth when fifth-year senior outfielder Craig Roumes (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) drew a walk but the River Hawks remained hitless and scoreless through four.
 
Junior outfielder Evan Knapp (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) notched SU's first hit of the game to lead off the sixth but the River Hawks were unable to generate any runs and the hosts maintained their 5-0 lead.
 
Senior catcher Peter Yarem (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains-Fanwood) picked up the team's second hit of the day with an infield single but once again, the Lions defense kept Susquehanna off the scoreboard.
 
Harrisburg's final two runs came in the seventh when Williams struck again, hitting a two-run double with two outs on the board.
 
Fifth-year senior infielder Anthony Dombrowski (Pompton Plains, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) finally drove in the River Hawks' first run of the game with a single through the left side to score fifth-year senior infielder Alec Ranck (Elverson, Pa./Twin Valley), who led off the inning with a double. Senior outfielder Steve Lorenz (Langhorne, Pa./William Penn Charter) then tripled to right center to bring home Dombrowski.
 
Junior reliever Kieran Kearns closed out the game for the Lions by retiring the SU side in order in the ninth.
 
Inside the Game 1 Box Score
Susquehanna and Penn State Harrisburg each had five hits in the game with the River Hawks collecting a double and a triple. Harrisburg finished with a double and two home runs.
 
Top Performers in Game 1
Five different players tallied a hit for SU while Dombrowski and Lorenz each batted in a run. On the mound, Ness (0-1) suffered the loss as he allowed five runs (four earned) on three hits with three strikeouts, two hit batters, one walk, and one wild pitch in 2.0 innings. Duffie led the pitching staff with five strikeouts in 2.0 innings in his collegiate debut.
 
Williams paced the Lions in their season-opening win with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate with five RBI and one run scored. Junior starter Drew Harshbarger (1-0) notched the win following a one-hitter in 5.2 innings of work, fanning six River Hawks and walking just one.
 
Game 2 – Susquehanna 4, Penn State Harrisburg 5 (10 innings)
How It Happened
Following three scoreless innings, Susquehanna drew first blood in the nightcap as Yarem hit a double to left field in the top of the fourth to score Roumes, who had drawn his second walk of the game and then stole second to put himself in scoring position, and give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
 
The River Hawks picked up another run in the fifth as senior infielder Chris Corrado (Tuckahoe, N.Y./Tuckahoe) brought home Knapp for a 2-0 advantage with a single through the left side. Knapp reached base with a double to left field as the second hitter of the inning.
 
Penn State Harrisburg erupted for four runs in the bottom of the seventh to claim its first lead of the game, 4-2, as Williams stepped up to the plate with bases loaded and cracked a long ball over the right field fence for the grand slam. Junior Dillan Weikel (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg Area) came in relief and picked up the final two outs to get the River Hawks out of the inning, striking out one, walking one, and getting the last batter to ground out to him.
 
With SU down two, Knapp opened up the ninth with a walk, and then Dombrowski was hit by a pitch. Each runner then advanced to second and third, respectively, on a passed ball. A ground out to shortstop by Lorenz allowed Knapp to score before another passed ball brought home Dombrowski, knotting the game at 4-4 with one out remaining. Junior southpaw Tyler Stabley, who entered in relief with one out in the ninth, was able to strike out Roumes to end the inning.
 
Senior reliever William Carey (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) was able to get Williams to ground into a double play in the Lions' half of the ninth and send the game into extra innings.
 
Stabley continued his solid pitching, sitting down Susquehanna in order in the 10th. Penn State Harrisburg clinched the win on a walk-off error as senior infielder Casey Winters drew a lead-off walk, stole second, and then came home on an SU error in leftfield following senior pinch hitter Ben Closson's single to leftfield.
 
Inside the Game 2 Box Score
The River Hawks edged the hosts, 6-4, in hits, including three extra-base hits.
 
Penn State Harrisburg stole four bases to SU's two.
 
Top Performers in Game 2
Once again, the River Hawks had no players with multiple hits as six different players each picked up a hit. Roumes finished 1-for-3 with two walks, one runs scored, and one stolen base. Carey (0-1) was saddled with the loss, going 2.1 innings in relief with one unearned run on one hit. He struck out two, walked one, and hit one Lion.
 
Williams was the only Lion with multiple hits for the second straight game as he went 2-for-4 with four RBI and one run scored. Stabley (1-0) earned the win with 1.2 innings of hitless relief and two strikeouts. Senior lefty Zach Gettys tallied five strikeouts in his first start of the year as Gettys put in 5.0 innings of work, giving up two runs on three hits with two walks.
 
Up Next for the River Hawks

• Mar. 24 at Keystone (1-1) – La Plume, Pa. / Christy Mathewson Field – 3:30 p.m.

 
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