AMBLER, PA (May 19, 2023) – The Susquehanna baseball team began their weekend in fine fashion on Friday afternoon, winning the opening game of their NCAA Regional round against hosts and number one seed Arcadia University. Unleashing an onslaught of offense, the River Hawks compiled 16 hits with seven going for extra bases enroute to a 14-9 win.
After falling behind by one run in the first inning, the River Hawks quickly turned the tables in the top of the 2nd with a huge five-run inning. Singles from Lance Book, Michael Mancuso, and Sean McCulloch would each single, with McCulloch picking up an RBI to tie the game. Brock Veit would then be hit by a pitch, loading the bases with two outs. As he has all season, Tony Rossi came through in an RBI situation, launching a missile over the fence for a grand slam and four RBIs, taking the lead for SU in one swing.
Over the next three innings, Arcadia would slowly claw back, tying the game in the bottom of the 4th after a double and a triple contributed to a four-run effort in the frame for the Knights. With the pressure back on, Rossi stepped up once more, leading off the inning by hitting his second home run of the game, his 12th of the season. The score stretched to 7-5 after Dylan Heyduk singled and then came home to score on a double from Book. The River Hawks continued to flex their power, this time with Book providing, as he launched his second home run of the season in the top of the 7th, a two-run shot to left field that gave Susquehanna a 9-6 lead.
However, the Knights weren't finished yet, launching one more comeback effort in the bottom of the 8th after scoring a pair of runs on three hits to tie the game at 9 each. Vincent Mariella would come in to take the mound and extract the River Hawks from a bases-loaded situation with the game still tied. Both teams would miss their first chance to find the game-winner, with the teams going down in order in each frame of the 9th. Susquehanna would have no problems finding offense in extra innings, with the River Hawks reclaiming the lead in the top of the 10th through a five-run, three-hit inning. After a lead-off triple from Michael Mancuso, Michael Biuso would walk, setting up McCulloch with a chance to provide the go-ahead run. He did so with aplomb, ripping a double to center field that scored Mancuso and moved Biuso to third. Veit hit a sacrifice fly next, pushing the lead to two. After all the damage he'd already done in the game, Arcadia elected to intentionally walk Rossi, giving SU runners on first and second with one out. J.P. Yore was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Jack Cahill would then follow with his own sacrifice fly. Still not finished scoring runs with two outs on the board, Heyduk came through with yet another big hit, a triple to right center that scored two more runs, making the score 14-9 as the game progressed to the bottom of the 10th. Arcadia would get two runners on thanks to back-to-back walks to start the inning, but Landon Ness would enter to get the final two outs, stifling the threat and clinching the result.
Susquehanna earns their place in the winner's game on Saturday at noon, where they'll face number two seed Rowan University, who topped third-seeded Brockport 12-3 in the second game of the day today.
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--RIVER HAWKS--
