WILKES-BARRE, PA (March 22, 2023) – The Susquehanna baseball team picked up their 12th win of the season on Wednesday afternoon after a dramatic back-and-forth affair on the road at Wilkes ended in a 10-9 victory for SU.
The hosts had their bats going early, setting the SU on the back foot after Wilkes tallied five unanswered runs in the first two innings, while the River Hawks were unable to pick up a hit until the top of the 3rd inning. They appeared to have an opportunity to answer back in the frame, as back-to-back singles from J.P. Yore and Tyler Hmielewski to start the inning gave them two runners on with no outs, but a groundball double play followed by a flyout ended the threat without any runs.
The breakthrough finally arrived in the top of the 5th, as Michael Mancuso led off by being hit by a pitch, before Yore followed with a double that scored Mancuso and got Susquehanna on the board. That would be the only run in the frame, but served as a precursor for the onslaught to come in the top of the 6th.
A double by Brock Veit bookended by Kris Morrow and Lance Book reaching base on fielding errors set SU up with the bases loaded and no outs. With the stage set for a huge inning, Tony Rossi came to the plate and tied the game with one swing, launching a grand slam over the left field wall, tallying his fourth home run of the season as well. Not content with a tied game, SU would take their first lead of the game as Mancuso scored on yet another Wilkes error. This was followed by a sacrifice fly from Sean McCulloch making the score 7-5.
Wilkes answered back with single tallies in the bottom of the 6th and 7th innings, tying the game going into the 8th. In the top of the inning, Susquehanna would yet again have a big inning begun with a leadoff hit by pitch, this time being Yore. He came around to eventually score on a bases-loaded walk, reclaiming the lead. SU then tacked on two more runs on a two-RBI single from Veit, who came up big with two outs on the board.
The finish would not be smooth sailing for SU, as Wilkes tacked on two runs in the bottom of the 8th to close to gap to just one run. But after going scoreless in the top of the 9th and the score still 10-9, Vincent Mariella took the mound in the bottom of the inning and sealed the result for Susquehanna while earning his second save of the season.
Veit and Yore were key for the River Hawks at the plate, both picking up three hits. Hmielewski had two, the only other player for SU with a multi-hit performance. Rossi's four RBIs led all hitters on the day. Adam Stuck would ultimately pick up the win for SU, as he pitched the 7th inning, allowing a run on three hits but seeing the offense come through with the three runs in the top of the 8th.
Now 12-4 overall and 1-1 in Landmark play, the River Hawks will delve back into conference play this weekend with a three-game weekend series at Catholic University, starting with a Saturday doubleheader before concluding with the third game on Sunday. They will begin on Saturday the 25th at 12:00 pm.
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--RIVER HAWKS--
