MADISON, NJ (April 28, 2023) – The Susquehanna baseball team hit the road for their final conference series of the regular season, visiting Drew for a three-game series, beginning with a Friday doubleheader. The River Hawks cruised to a 5-0 win in game 1, before a dramatic, extra-innings affair went the way of the hosts, with a final score of 9-8.

Game 1: Susquehanna 5, Drew 0

It was the pitching of starter Dillan Weikel that was the headline in game 1. Weikel completely baffled the Ranger hitters, tossing a complete-game shutout while allowing just two hits and a single walk. He fanned nine batters as well, a season-high, enroute to his fourth win of the season.

With Weikel's dominance on the mound, the SU offense had no problems taking the lead early and providing run support, scoring a run on an RBI triple by Kris Morrow in the top of the 1^st inning. They would add three more in the top of the 5^th, seeing a two-RBI single by J.P. Yore followed by an RBI double from Brock Veit and putting the game firmly in their grasp. One more run in the 8^th inning on an RBI single from Camryn Eberly set the score at 5-0 where it finished.

While he did not pick up any RBIs in the game, Dylan Heyduk was clutch at the plate, tallying three hits, including a double, along with scoring the run on Eberly's single. Yore was the other River Hawk with a multi-hit game, picking up two knocks that included a double of his own.

Game 2: Drew 9, Susquehanna 8

SU started fast again, picking up a run in the top of the 1^st inning on an RBI single from Veit. However, the Rangers fought back right away, scoring for the first time on the day with two runs in the bottom of the 1^st inning. Helped by two fielding errors from SU in that frame, Drew benefitted from defensive struggles for the River Hawks throughout the game. SU gave up a season-high seven errors in the game, with only four of Drew's nine total runs being earned runs.

The hosts expanded their lead in the 3^rd and 4^th innings, pushing the score to 5-1 and knocking starter Tyler Rigot out of the game after just 3.1 innings of work. Brice Gregory would come on in relief and stop the bleeding well, holding Drew off the board through the end of the 4^th and through the 5^th and 6^th innings. This gave SU's offense a chance to respond, scoring a run in the top of the 5^th before unleashing a three-run inning in the top of the 7^th to tie the game up once more.

Aidan Martin took over for Gregory and kept the score tied in the bottom of the 7^th, allowing the River Hawks to reclaim the lead in the 8^th as Michael Mancuso drew a one-out walk and unleashed some stellar baserunning, stealing second base and then coming all the way home to score on a wild pitch. That lead proved fleeting though, as Drew jumped right back in front on a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning. With two runners still on base and the threat of expanding their lead, Landon Ness came in to face Drew and induced a fly out to get the third out and keep the score at 7-6.

Now entering the 9^th with their backs to the wall, things looked dire for SU as two outs went up on the board with no runners on base. But Tony Rossi stepped to the plate as the last chance for the River Hawks and came up clutch, launching a home run to left field and tying the game at 7-7. Things would start to look dicey for SU once more in the bottom of the inning when the lead-off batter hit a single before eventually advancing all the way to third on a failed pickoff attempt. Ness induced two outs, but SU would then elect to intentionally walk the next two batters to load the bases, setting up a force out at any base. Ultimately, no defense was needed on the third out, as Ness ended the inning with a strikeout, sending the game to extras.

SU put the pressure on right away, this time being the team to benefit from fielding errors as two in a single play during a Heyduk at-bat allowed Veit to come home and score after he got on-base on a single to start the inning. However, the River Hawks couldn't add any more runs in the frame. With Ness still on the mound, the bottom of the 10^th began with a groundout but was followed by back-to-back singles, with an error on the second play allowing the tying run to score. Now with the game tied and a runner on third with only one out, the next Drew hitter laid down an attempted sacrifice bunt. Ness would attempt to field it and throw it home to stop the run from scoring, but his throw went over the head of the catcher as the runner reached safely and ended the game.

Susquehanna matched their hit tally from game 1, again totaling ten, with three players picking up two, those being Rossi, Yore, and Veit. Their typical baserunning savvy was on-display but not quite as efficient as usual, with Sean McCulloch, Morrow, and Mancuso all picking up a stolen base, but also seeing the runners twice caught stealing, an unusual occurrence for the River Hawks.

Now 21-16 overall and 8-8 in the Landmark, SU will play Drew one more time on Sunday, April 30 at noon.

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--RIVER HAWKS--