SELINSGROVE, PA - With their back against the wall trailing 4-0 in the ninth with one out and the bases loaded,
Michael Biuso erased the deficit with one swing of the bat to force extras, then became the hero again in the 11th as the winning run on a passed ball as Susquehanna took the Landmark weekend series against Drew with a 5-4 11-inning victory.
The game progressed very quickly, with just one runner reaching even third base in the first seven innings. Starter
Anthony Colucci dueled against Drew's starter, Brandon Kobryn, as both threw seven innings of shutout ball until Drew finally pushed across a run in the top half of the eighth, although it was unearned on Colucci's line. The senior struck out a career-high seven Rangers, while
Vincent Mariella inherited the runner Colucci had left on base and allowed the run to score.
Brice Gregory relieved Mariella, but was unable to prevent the runners he inherited plus one of his own from scoring as Drew jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to an RBI hit by pitch and a two-run single through the left side.
The River Hawks put together a one-out rally in the final frame, loading the bases via hits for
Griffin Shenman and
Sean McCulloch, as well as a walk for
Michael Mancuso. This set the table for Biuso, who, in a two strike count, launched a fastball the opposite way for a game-tying grand slam.
Tony Rossi threatened to make matters worse after putting himself, the winning run, aboard with a hit, then
Cam Eberly behind him walked and
Dylan Heyduk was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but the River Hawks were unable to push home that winning run from third base.
Gregory recorded three consecutive strikeouts looking to retire the side in the tenth, then added another in the 11th as he worked around a leadoff hit, going on to claim his first win of the season.
The River Hawks started the bottom half of the 11th with a base hit by Biuso, who advanced to second on a walk by Rossi. Eberly laid down a bunt to advance them to third and was safe himself on a throwing error, and the game concluded on a wild pitch that saw Biuso come home to score the winning run.
The River Hawks took their fifth series win out of six attempts with wins in games two and three. They will face Penn State Harrisburg at home on Tuesday before they travel to Juniata the following day. They accumulated their 16th win of the season, 12 of which have come in conference play.
