SCRANTON, PA – Susquehanna baseball endured everything it could handle in their Landmark Conference Tournament games Saturday to advance to Sunday's championship contest against Scranton. The River Hawks first had to overcome a disappointing 7-3 loss to the host Royals in the championship bracket after a six-run Scranton seventh wiped away a 2-0 Susquehanna lead. Needing another win over top-seed Elizabethtown immediately after in the elimination game, who they had beaten 12-3 on Friday, the River Hawks outlasted the Blue Jays with a 4-2 ten-inning win on the heels of nine-plus masterful innings from Tyler Rigot.

Susquehanna makes its fourth straight Landmark Championship appearance beginning at 10:30 Sunday, needing two wins over the Royals to hoist its first league crown since 2019.

SCRANTON 7, SUSQUEHANNA 3
Ryan Redmond cruised through his first six innings of work, holding Scranton to just two hits. Susquehanna picked up a run in the second with a double steal, With Dylan Heyduk at first and JP Yore at third, Heyduk took off for second to trigger a rundown, prompting Yore to rush to the plate. The second inning also marked a career milestone for leadoff hitter Kris Morrow, who gathered his 100th career hit.

The River Hawks got their second run in the top of the sixth when a wild pitch brought home Heyduk from third. Redmond retired the side in the bottom half of the sixth, capitalized by his fourth strikeout of the game. He took the mound for the seventh, keeping in rhythm with retiring the first two batters. But things began to take a turn when he gave up a walk to Jake Elston to keep the frame going. Pinch hitter Dan Crossan issued a single to center field to put two runners on for the first time all game. Landon Ness took over for Redmond in hopes of getting the last out, but could not as he walked Matthew Querey to loaded the bases, bringing up Nick Reposa who singled to right to usher in the tying runs. Corey Zientek gave the Royals the lead on his next at bat with an RBI single to score Querey.

Aidan Martin came in for Ness with the same final-out objective, but a wild pitch advanced Zientek and Reposa to second and third. A balk ensued, to advance the runners and make it a 4-2 ballgame. After a Jake Lisicky walk and him stealing second, John Zarnowski plated two with his single to center. Two batters later Martin finally got Susquehanna out of the jam when Jake Elston flied out to left field with the bases loaded.

The River Hawks got two back in the eighth when Lance Book's leadoff double led to Michael Mancuso's RBI single to left. Michael Biusi got on with a single to right field, then with runners on the corners Mancuso scored as Biusi was out at second in a rundown. Scranton, however, added a run to its lead in the bottom half off Reposa's RBI single to right. Jason Stine took over on the mound, getting three outs with no more runs coming across. A JP Yore single and a Lance Book walk offered Michael Mancuso up as the tying run at the plate, but reliver Ryan Heiser struck him out swinging to pick up the save.

Susquehanna rattled off eight hits as Morrow batted 2-for-4 and Book 2-for-3 with one double. Yore, Heyduk, Mancuso and Biuso each had one hit. Redmond pitched 6.2 plus innings, surrendering two earned runs on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Ness was handed the loss after giving up three earned runs on two hits and one walk on three batters face to move to 0-2 on the year. Martin had two earned runs on four hits with two walks on eight batters faced, while Jason Stine pitched the eighth, giving up just one walk on four batters faced.

SUSQUEHANNA 4, ELIZABETHTOWN 2
A disappointed, but undeterred River Hawks squad quickly turned around needing another win over top-seed Elizabethtown to advance to their fourth straight Landmark Championship. Tyler Rigot took the mound for the River Hawks against the Blue Jays' Kyle Mulville, waging a fierce pitchers duel with great defense throughout.

E-Town jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI single from Robbie Bertucio, followed by Quinten Perilli grounding out to second that scored David Woolley from third. Lance Book got a run back for Susquehanna similarly when his 4-3 groundout brought home Kris Morrow from third.

Rigot settled in to retire the side in the second and worked his way out of runners on first and second thanks to his defense pulling off a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play in the third. Tony Rossi led off the fourth with a solo home run to the deepest part of Volpe Field in right center to tie things up at 2-2. Rigot again retired the side in the fourth and again stranded two Blue Jays baserunners in the fifth. He then retired his next ten batters and 12 of the next 13 to keep the Blue Jays grounded over the next four innings.

Mulville was handling the River Hawks with equal ease, though things looked to be in Susquehanna's favor in the seventh on a leadoff double to right field by Dylan Heyduk who advanced to third on an error. Two batters later Michael Mancuso flied out to left, with the running Heyduk getting thrown out at the plate off a tremendous throw from left fielder Mason Woolwine to end the inning. With two runners on in the top of the eighth with one out, Zach Silfies took the mound for E-Town, retiring Rossi and Morrow hitting into a fielder's choice towards another empty frame.

The game moved to the tenth, led off by Michael Biuso singling up the middle to give the River Hawks a spark. Sean McCullough grounded one to second baseman Tyler McGonigle in what appeared to be a double play opportunity, but McGonigle misplayed the ball in his attempt towards second to have both runners on. Brock Veit laid down a sacrifice bunt to put the runners at second and third, leading to Tony Rossi getting intentionally walked to load the bases. Silfies struck out Morrow on the ensuing at bat, sending Yore to the plate with two outs. He ended the 5 ½ inning scoring drought with a two-RBI single to left to lead 4-2.

Rigot took the mound to start the tenth, but a leadoff walk led to Vincent Mariella coming on to get the save. The starting pitcher walked off to a raucous ovation from the Susquehanna faithful, throwing 117 total pitches and allowing one earned run on four hits with three strikeouts and five walks on 36 batters faced. Mariella retired the next three batters to pick up the save and send an exhausted, but excited River Hawks team to Sunday's championship matchup with Scranton.