SCRANTON, Pa. – Fifth-year senior
Craig Roumes (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) rocks his first career grand slam and sophomore
Dominic Yeager (Reading, Pa./Reading) pitched 5.0 innings of four-hit relief to keep the Susquehanna University baseball team alive in the double-elimination 2021 Landmark Conference Baseball Championship.
No. 6 seed Susquehanna (11-16) went up early and never looked back in posting an 11-4 victory over No. 4 seed Moravian College (13-17) Saturday afternoon to eliminate the Greyhounds from the conference playoffs and avenge Thursday's (May 13) loss at Moravian. The River Hawks will now face No. 1 seed The University of Scranton (17-8) tomorrow, Sunday, May 16 at 10:30 am at Volpe Field in Scranton.
SU will need to beat Scranton twice tomorrow in order to advance to next weekend's best-of-3 championship series against either No. 2 seed The Catholic University of America or No. 3 seed Elizabethtown College.
How It Happened
Susquehanna opened up the game with a 2-0 lead following two runs in the top of the first inning. Fifth-year senior
Anthony Dombrowski (Pompton Plains, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) hit a lead-off double and, following back-to-back fly-outs, came home on junior
Adam Schreck's (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) double.
Schreck was then singled home by senior
Steve Lorenz (Langhorne, Pa./William Penn Charter).
The River Hawks gave themselves an eight-run cushion with six runs in the fifth. The explosive inning was sparked by
Roumes' grand slam, his first home run of the season, lifting Susquehanna to a 6-0 advantage with no outs. Back-to-back two-out bases-loaded walks to first-year
Tyler Hargus (Odenton, Md./Spalding) and senior
Chris Corrado (Tuckahoe, N.Y./Tuckahoe) brought home SU's next two runs.
Moravian broke through in its half of the fifth, putting three runs on the scoreboard. The Greyhounds also benefitted from consecutive bases-loaded walks to cut the deficit to 8-2 with no outs.
Yeager came in for first-year
Adam Stuck (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) and retired the three batters he faced in order as Moravian's third run came on a sacrifice fly.
The Greyhounds kept Susquehanna off the board for the next three innings as
AJ Gordon retired nine of 10 batters faced, allowing Moravian to pull within 8-4 with a two-out run in the bottom of the eighth.
After a popup to lead off the ninth, three straight singles loaded the bases for first-year
Kris Morrow (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic), who singled to leftfield to bring home
Schreck and
Lorenz. Fifth-year senior
Alec Ranck (Elverson, Pa./Twin Valley) crossed home plate as well on
Hargus' single to right centerfield to bolster the River Hawks' lead to 11-4.
Aaron Flyte relieved
Gordon and earned to fly-outs to end the inning.
Moravian hoped to rally with a lead-off pinch-hit single by
David Bertolotti but a double play and a fly out to leftfield squashed the Greyhounds' attempt to extend their season.
Inside the Box Score
Susquehanna tallied a season-best 14 hits, marking the 10th time this season the River Hawks have notched double-digit hits. Today is only the fifth time in 2021 that SU has notched double-digit runs. Susquehanna made no errors on the day and left eight on base. The Greyhounds were limited to four runs on seven hits with one error while stranding seven runners.
Top Performers
Lorenz led the River Hawks offensively at the plate going 3-for-5 with two runs while
Dombrowski,
Schreck,
Morrow, and
Hargus each collected two hits.
Roumes finished with four RBI while
Morrow and
Hargus drove in two runs apiece.
Yeager (2-1) struck out two as he allowed one (earned) run on four hits in 5.0 innings of relief. Making his sixth start, first-year
Teagan Duffie (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone Area) fanned three and allowed just one hit in 2.0 innings for a no decision.
Nick Montone was the only Greyhound with a multiple-hit game as
Montone went 3-for-4.
Rodney Berger (2-4) took the loss on the mound after giving up seven (six earned) runs on seven hits in 4.0 innings. Moravian's four pitchers combined for just one strikeout.
Up Next for the River Hawks
May 16 at No. 1 seed Scranton (17-8) – Scranton, Pa. / Volpe Field – 10:30 a.m.
May 16 at No. 1 seed Scranton (17-8) – Scranton, Pa. / Volpe Field – TBD (if SU wins)
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