SELINSGROVE, PA (April 28, 2024) – The River Hawks complete the series sweep against the Colonels with an 8-5 win Sunday afternoon, advancing to 19-20 overall and 15-9 in the Landmark.
The day starts off with Senior Day festivities, honoring all 13 senior players. Senior Anthony Colucci gets the nod to start the day on the mound for the River Hawks and goes on to toss 5.1 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits, punching out five batters in the process, and earning the win. A total of four senior pitchers enter the game with Adam Stuck tossing a scoreless 0.2 innings, Brice Gregory tossing a scoreless inning, and Jason Stine allowing one run on one hit while striking out two.
On offense the River Hawks score eight runs (four earned) on eight hits in a total of 33 at-bats. Senior Tyler Hargus getting his second start of the season goes two for four at the plate with a double and a single while batting in one run.
Wilkes jumps out to an early lead scoring two runs in the top of the first and in the bottom of the first the River Hawks bat around the order and score three runs of their own, leaving three runners on base. Colucci holds the Colonels scoreless in the second and the River Hawks tack on a couple of runs after a Tony Rossi sacrifice fly scores Sean McCulloch, becoming RBI number 100 for Rossi, and Hargus reaches on a fielder's choice throwing error scoring Michael Biuso.
Wilkes scores two more runs with a solo homerun in the third and an RBI double in the fourth making it a 5-4 ballgame in favor of the River Hawks. They match Wilkes' two runs with Rossi stealing home after Dylan Heyduk gets caught in a rundown and ends up safe on second, and Hargus doubling to left field to drive Heyduk home, giving the River Hawks an 8-4 advantage over the Colonels.
The Susquehanna bullpen does their job, holding the Colonels to one run in the next three innings to win the game 8-5 with Vincent Mariella earning his fourth save of the season with a hitless, one punchout inning in the ninth.
Finishing 15-9 in Landmark play and cementing themselves as the number four seed in the Landmark Conference standings, they now await results from around the league for a chance to potentially finish as the third seed. The River Hawks will travel to York College of Pennsylvania for their final contest of the regular season on Tuesday, April 30th, start time for the game is 4:00 PM.
