WASHINGTON, DC (March 26, 2023) – Despite a strong day on offense that saw the River Hawks total 22 hits across two games, the Susquehanna baseball team came up on the wrong end of both games of their Sunday doubleheader against #20 Catholic University. A close fight in game 1 ended 6-5 in the Cardinals' favor, and game 2's score was 15-7.

Game 1: #20 Catholic 6, Susquehanna 5

Pitching took center stage in the first game, as Dillan Weikel took the mound for SU, matched up against Tucker Alch for Catholic. After three scoreless innings for both teams, it was the River Hawks who struck first in the top of the 4^th, when J.P. Yore came up clutch with a two-RBI double to right field with two outs in the inning. The Cardinals answered right back in the bottom of the inning, working three-straight walks to load the bases with no outs, bringing Landon Ness to the mound for SU to try and work out of the jam. He would do so well, striking out his first batter, seeing a run score on a fielder's choice and another out on the play, and then striking out another batter to end the inning with the lead still in hand.

It would be restored to a two-run advantage in the very next frame, as Sean McCulloch ripped a one-out triple before coming home to score on a wild pitch to make the score 3-1. But again, the Cardinals surged back, scoring again in the bottom of the 6^th inning, with a lead-off walk being brought home by an RBI double before a fielder's choice followed by a sacrifice fly brought a second run home and tied the game at three each. The next couple of innings would see the team's trade shots back and forth, with SU scoring on the back of another triple, this one by Tyler Hmielewski, who then scored on an RBI single from McCulloch. Catholic tied it back up in the bottom of the 7^th on an RBI single, but once more SU took the lead, capitalizing on a throwing error in the top of the 8^th inning during a Tony Rossi stolen base that allowed Lance Book to score from third.

The River Hawks had the opportunity to close out the game, as they entered the bottom of the 9^th inning with their one-run lead still in hand. But, Vincent Mariella took the mound and ultimately ended the game with the loss. He began by inducing a ground out, but a walk followed by a single set Catholic up with two on and one out. Another single picked up an RBI as the lead runner rounded third and came home to score the tying run. And with runners on first and third and still just one out, a sacrifice fly finished the job for the Cardinals, scoring the winning run with an out to spare.

SU was ultimately undone by that string of timely hitting, as Catholic managed only five hits in the game compared to Susquehanna's 12. McCulloch and Rossi both tallied three hits in the game, while Book had two of his own. McCulloch, Book, Rossi, and Michael Mancuso all picked up a stolen base to continue the team's prolific work on the basepaths. Rossi picked up two more stolen bases in game two, giving the team a total of 61, the sixth-highest total in all of Division III.

Game 2: #20 Catholic 15, Susquehanna 7

After the momentum swing at the end of game one, Catholic wasted no time continuing their positive trajectory by jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 1^st inning on the back of two solo home runs and an RBI double. The scoring continued through the second and third inning, with SU starter Tyler Rigot being knocked out of the game after just 2.1 innings of work, and the score sitting at 6-0 after three innings with the River Hawks having only managed a single hit on offense.

But, the River Hawks got the bats going in the top of the 4^th, unleashing a massive inning to get right back into the game. It began with a single from Jack Cahill, followed by a walk for Brock Veit. Lance Book then came up and hit an RBI single to right-center, making Cahill the River Hawks' first run of the game and moving Veit up to second. Rossi added an RBI single of his own, scoring Veit and advancing Book to third. Rossi and Book would then execute a perfect double steal, cutting the lead to three. The RBI singles kept coming, as Thomas Romanelli hit one to left field, scoring Rossi and also reaching second base on a Catholic throwing error. Yore then came to the plate and hit his second RBI extra-base hit of the day, knocking a double to left field to score Romanelli and make the score 6-5. The inning came to an end after a lineout double play and a pop up finally gave Catholic the three outs they needed. They also got one run back in the bottom of the 4^th, scoring on an RBI single. But Susquehanna would match it in the top of the 5^th on a bases-loaded walk to Thomas Romanelli, giving him his second RBI of the day.

The bottom of the 5^th saw Catholic get some breathing room again, with a two-run home run making the score 9-6. They would grab single tallies in the next two innings while keeping SU off the board, then unleashing a four-run, four-hit inning in the bottom of the 8^th carried by a solo home run and a three-RBI double, giving Catholic their largest lead of the day at nine. Susquehanna got one back on a two-out, pinch-hit solo home run by Jared Forscht, but a comeback wasn't on the cards, and it ended 15-7.

These two teams will face off once more on Monday afternoon, beginning at 3 pm, with Susquehanna hoping to avoid being swept in the three-game series and to pick up their second Landmark win of the campaign.

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--RIVER HAWKS--