WINCHESTER, VA (March 5, 2023) – Susquehanna baseball faced a stiff test on Sunday as they took on two ranked opponents in #22 Oswego State and #20 Cortland as part of their weekend trip to Virginia. The River Hawks produced a phenomenal showing, taking an impressive 11-4 victory over Oswego before coming up just short in a close battle with Cortland, falling 4-2.
Game 1: Susquehanna 11, #22 Oswego St. 4
SU was led by a dominant outing from junior Teagan Duffie, who allowed just one run on four hits in seven innings of work, also fanning eight batters. That single run came in the bottom of the 1st inning and would be the only tally in the first four inning as both starting pitchers were in command. That would change in the top of the 5th as SU finally unlocked their offense and scored six runs, benefiting from three walks, two hits, a sacrifice fly, and an error to put themselves in a commanding lead.
The score remained 6-1 for the next three innings before the offense came alive again in the 9th. Dylan Heyduk began the inning with a single before coming around to score after back-to-back throwing errors put the next two batters on base. With runners on second and third, Brock Veit came to the plate and picked up an RBI double. He was followed by Lance Book, who would hit a double of his own and pick up two RBIs on the hit. An RBI single from Tony Rossi brought one more run home before the inning ended with Susquehanna now leading 11-1.
Oswego would not go quietly though, putting a rally together in the bottom of the inning to score three runs, but could get no closer and SU sealed the win. Heyduk, Veit, and Kris Morrow would all tally two hits apiece in the game, with Heyduk and Veit also each stealing a base, along with Sean McCulloch, who already has 11 stolen bases this season.
Game 2: #20 Cortland 4, Susquehanna 2
Facing the Red Dragons for the second time in as many days, the River Hawks produced a much improved showing after falling to Cortland 13-4 yesterday. As with Oswego earlier in the day, SU's opponents would take a one-run lead in the 1st inning, but scoring was then silenced as the pitchers dueled it out. Tyler Rigot earned the start for SU and threw 5.1 innings, allowing that single run on five hits while striking out four and giving up no walks.
With the score still 1-0 in Cortland's favor as the game wore on, the River Hawks finally broke into the scoring column in the bottom of the sixth inning, as back-to-back walks to start the inning set the table for a two-RBI double from Michael Mancuso, giving SU a slim one-run lead. And it looked as though that lead might hold, as the next two innings were scoreless for both teams. Aidan Martin pitched 2.1 scoreless innings in relief duty, allowing just one hit. But the top of the 9th would see the Red Dragons flip the script. The inning began with a walk and a hit by pitch, immediately putting the tying and leading runs on base for Cortland with no outs. The struggles to put batters away continued as Ryan Redmond entered to try and close but would walk the first batter to load the bases. A wild pitch during the next at-bat brought home the tying run, and still SU had no outs. Redmond would fan the next batter to get that first out, but with runners still on second and third and just one out, SU elected to intentionally walk the next batter to set up a double play chance. Unfortunately, the next Cortland batter would instead hit a two-RBI single to put them back in the lead. The River Hawks did then get a double play from the next at-bat to stop the bleeding, but the damage was done. They would go down in order in the bottom of the 9th inning and see the win slip through their fingers.
SU compiled just six hits in the game, with Mancuso accounting for three of them on his own. Morrow, Book, and J.P. Yore would each have one as well.
Now 6-3 on the season and having taken their first win against a ranked opponent, the River Hawks are undoubtedly poised for consideration in the national polls and will be hoping to pick up more wins from their non-conference schedule as Landmark play draws closer. The team will travel to Myrtle Beach over Spring Break with four games scheduled, the first being Saturday, March 11 at 7:00 pm against McDaniel College. They'll return home later that week and host their first home games of the season over that weekend, welcoming Scranton for a three-game series and the beginning of conference play.
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--RIVER HAWKS--
