SELINSGROVE, PA (April 30, 2022) -- The visiting Catholic University Cardinals used a crooked inning in both games of a Landmark Conference doubleheader, defeating Susquehanna University 14-7 in game one, before taking the nightcap 10-3.

Game 1: Catholic 14, Susquehanna 7
The River Hawks (14-20) fell behind in the top of the first inning, as the first two hitters of the game reached on infield singles. Following a Dillan Weikel strikeout, Cardinals designated hitter Peter Giombetti drove a single into left centerfield to open the scoring.

Susquehanna waited for their opportunity to get on the board, however they did not wait long, as the River Hawks jumped in front in the bottom of the second inning. After the first two hitters struck out, Brock Veit worked a two-out walk before stealing second. Michael Buiso then followed with a walk himself, with both runners advancing into scoring position following a passed ball. With runners at second and third, Sean McCulloch knotted the game up, on a single that deflected off the Catholic pitcher, before being corralled by the shortstop. With runners on the corner, McCulloch took second on a defensive indifference, before Kris Morrow walked to load the bases. The River Hawk bats came to life with back-to-back singles. The first came of the bat of Evan Knapp who singled up the middle to score both Buiso and McCulloch. The second single came from Adam Schreck who singled into left field to score Morrow. However, the River Hawk rally ended there, as Knapp was thrown out at third trying to go first to third on the Schreck single.

Both pitching staffs settled into a grove during both the third and fourth innings, before the Cardinals roared back, putting a nine spot on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth. The Catholic rally began with a leadoff walk, before Giombetti doubled down the left field line. With runners in scoring position and no one out, Matt Tesoriero singled to right field to cut the SU lead to 3-2. That was the end of the day for Weikel who was replaced by Dominic Yeagar. The first hitter that Yeagar faced drove a pitch to center to score Giombetti, before coming into score along with Tesoriero on a Lucas Malave double to left center to move the Cardinals in front 5-3. Yeagar forced a ground out to retire the first batter of the inning, before allowing another runner to reach on an error by Morrow. The error ended the day for Yeagar who gave way to Anthony Colucci. Colucci walked the first two batters he faced, loading the bases, and setting the stage for Giombetti to drive a pitch over the left centerfield wall to put the icing on the nine-run frame with a grand slam.

Susquehanna did not go away quietly though, as in the home half of the fifth inning, Lance Book led off the frame with double to deep center, before advancing to third on a J.P. Yore single to right. With runners on the corner Catholic pitcher Cody Bosak dropped the ball while toeing the rubber, resulting in a balk, allowing both runners to advance, with Book touching home.

Down 10-5 heading to the bottom of the seventh, the River Hawks continued to inch closer. Yore led off the inning by reaching base on a fielding error from the Cardinal third baseman. The next batter, Chris Corrado, ripped a line drive down the right field line, for an RBI triple to score Yore. After a Veit fly out, Biuso singled through the left side, scoring Corrado to cut the deficit to 10-7. That was as close as SU got.

The Cardinals scored three times in the eighth and once more in the ninth to put the game out of reach, taking game one 14-7.

Weikel got the start but did not make it through the fifth inning picking up the loss. Weikel went four plus innings surrendering nine hits, allowing four earned runs, waling two and striking out three. The River Hawks did get some solid innings in relief from Ryan Redmond who went four innings out of the bullpen, surrendering five hits, and giving up four runs (three earned) while walking three and striking out two.

McCulloch and Knapp led the offense, as five River Hawks collected multiple hits, and every batter reached base at least once. McCulloch finished going 3-for -5, with three singles, an RBI and two stolen bases, while Knapp was 2-for-6 driving in two runners.
 
Game 2: Catholic 10, Susquehanna 3
The second game followed a similar trend as the first as Catholic once again used a large offensive explosion to pull away from Susquehanna.

This time the strong inning for the Cardinals came in the second, as Susquehanna starter Teagan Duffie was unable to make it through the second inning. The devastating frame began with a Malave single, who advanced to second on a Tommy Antonucci hit by pitch. With two runners on and no one out, Duffie induced back-to-back ground balls to Buiso at shortstop, but both times everyone was safe, due to errors. Malave scored on the second of those errors to start the scoring. The next four batters all reached base, three via singles and the fourth via a walk, to push the Catholic lead to 5-0. Following that last single, that was the end of the night for Duffie who was replace by Logan Bernier. During the first batter Bernier faced, another run came across on a wild pitch, before the seventh and final run of the inning touched home on a sacrifice fly.

The Cardinals extended their lead in the fourth inning after Dante Pozzi led off with a walk, he then advanced to third on a Ben Nardi single to right center. Bernier was then able to induce a fly ball from Giombetti, allowing Pozzi to score on the sacrifice fly.

The River Hawks responded however in the bottom of the fifth inning. Tyler Hargus started the frame off by reaching on a fielding error, before advancing to third, following a single from Corrado and a walk from Veit. With the bases loaded Buiso singled to right field bringing in Hargus, before McCulloch hit a sacrifice fly out to center allowing Corrado to score, cutting the Cardinal lead to 8-2.

Hargus once again tried to spark a rally, this time in the eighth inning, leading off with a double to right center, before advancing to third on a fly out from Veit, after Corrado reached from being hit by a pitch. With runners on the corner, Buiso once again drove in Hargus, this time on a sacrifice fly to center. However, that was all the offense Susquehanna could muster.

Nick Koehn put the River Hawks away in the top of the ninth by driving in the final two runners of the game, on a single to right.

Duffie collected the loss in the outing, going just an inning and a third, giving up five hits, seven runs (five earned), while striking out one and walking one. The River Hawks did get some quality innings out of the bullpen from Vin Mariella who went three innings, and did not allow a hit, striking out two, walking one, and hitting another.

On offense Susquehanna was paced by Buiso and Hargus. Buiso finished the evening going 1-for-2, driving in two of the three River Hawk runs, while Hargus finished 1-for-5, scoring twice.

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Up Next

• The River Hawk baseball team will finish a three-game series with Catholic University Sunday afternoon at 12:00 p.m., for senior day, in action from Bollinger Field.

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