SELINSGROVE, PA - The Susquehanna University baseball team swept Catholic Sunday during their home doubleheader, officially sweeping the Cardinals in their three-game Landmark weekend series that opened Saturday with a 4-3 late-afternoon victory. The River Hawks opened Sunday with a swift 4-1 victory, then carried their aluminum to a more resounding 15-9 win in the nightcap. Susquehanna now carries a three-game win streak into its road Landmark Conference games this week at Juniata and Moravian.
SUSQUEHANNA 4, CATHOLIC 1
- Sunday's opening game featured a showdown of both team's starting pitchers that both bore the number 27 on their backs. For the River Hawks it was Josh Domaracki, who threw seven innings of mastery with as many strikeouts, while allowing just three hits.
- For Catholic, it was Charlie Belli, who was also effective in six innings of work, striking out five with just seven hits.
- Two of those hits, however, resulted in home runs. The first came from Dylan Heyduk in the third inning, who took the first pitch he saw over the right field fence for a solo home run and his first of the season for a 1-0 lead.
- The next dinger came one inning later from designated hitter Paul Daly. With Lucas Zachesky on base, Daly took his first offering to left field to give the River Hawks a 3-0 advantage.
- In the fifth inning shortstop Michael Gagliardi doubled in the gap in right center to bring home Lincoln Hower, to make it 4-0.
- Domaracki finished his great day on the mound with a pair of swinging strikeouts in the top of the seventh.
- Dominic Giglio came on in relief in the eighth. That's where the Cardinals tried to rally as a one-out double put them in business.
- A Daniel Tsimbinos sacrifice fly mercifully gave Susquehanna some breathing room for the inning's second out, though now holding a 4-1 lead.
- With two runners on and Chase Falcon representing the tying run at the plate, Giglio got him to grounf out to first for a 3-1 putout and get out of the inning maintaining a three-run lead.
- Austin Ozarowski came on for the save attempt in the ninth. Despite opening the inning with a walk, it played to his advantage as after a a strikeout, Daniel Nellum grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.
- Catholic was held to five hits in the first game Sunday, while Susquehanna's seven hits were represented by two from Gagliardi in a 2-for-4 day with one double and one RBI.
- Heyduk and Daly's home runs were their only hits in the game, while the other hits came from a double by Zachesky and singles from Andrew Haussman and Lincoln Hower.
SUSQUEHANNA 15, CATHOLIC 9
- Evan Applegate got the start in the nightcap in hopes of getting Susquehanna the series sweep. He did his part with six strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.
- Catholic tried to take ahold of the game early after one run in the first off a Chase Falcon RBI single.
- The River Hawks scored four in the bottom of the first as Michael Girardi's leadoff single set the wheels in motion.
- It would be their only hit in the inning, interestingly enough, as Heyduk was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second.
- Girardi stole third during Michael Gagliardi's at-bat, then trotted home off a throwing error by the catcher for SU's first run of the game.
- After Gagliardi walked to put runners on the corners, Lucas Zachesky hit a comebacker to the pitcher Jack Dufficy. He tried to get Heyduk at third, but a throwing error prompted him to come home.
- SU got two more runs when Andrew Haussman fouled out to the second baseman, which Gagliardi tagged up on to score. Paul Daly then sent a sacrific fly to left field to lead 4-1.
- Both sides exchanged jabs in the second inning, with Catholic scoring two and Susquehanna scoring three. Girardi and Heyduk capitalized with runners in scoring position for one RBI each, then Gagliardi sent a solo homer to left field to lead 7-3.
- The Cardinals tied the game in the fifth with four runs, during which Applegate exited the game in favor of Tommy Kowaliwskyj, who got the final two outs to keep it a tied game.
- The knotted affair didn't last long as the River Hawks moved in on the game with seven runs in the home half of the fifth.
- CJ Orrego forced a bases-loaded walk to regain the lead at 8-7. With two outs Catholic appeared to leave the inning with just a one-run deficit. With the bases loaded again Lincoln However hit a grounder to short, but Chris Esquivel misfielded what appeared to be a force out at second, extending the innning and Susquehanna's lead to 9-7.
- Girardi was hit by a pitch on the next at bat to bring another run home. The woes kept up for Catholic as Heyduk grounded one to the third baseman Jack Bateman, who opted to try to tag the advancing Hower, but missed the tag as Hower slid in safely at third, while Orrego scored to make it 11-7.
- Gagliardi then hit a fly ball to right, which dropped in and cleared the bases for a 14-7 lead.
- Nate Fronheiser came on to pitch the sixth and seventh innings, shutting out the Cardinals in both frames, while striking out two. The end of the top of the seventh was capitalized by the heads up work of the catcher Orrego, who picked off Gabriel Ruiz at second after a pitch.
- Cole Lilore took over on the mound in the eighth, overcoming a bases-loaded threat from Catholic by getting pinch hitter Peter Bozzone to ground into a force play at second base.
- Jaden Buechler offered an insurance run in the bottom half with an RBI single to score Daly.
- With two outs in the ninth the Cardinals got their first home run of the series from a Sammy Burman two-run shot, though their weekend ended one batter later as Falcon lined out to second.
- The River Hawks totaled ten hits in the series finale, bolstered by two each from Gagliardi, Buechler and Orrego. Girardi, Zachesky, Daly, and Hower each had one. Buechler had one double, while Girardi and Orrego each had one stolen base.
- Susquehanna's pitching staff combined for 11 strikeouts as Applegate had six, while Fronheiser had two and Lilore had three. They allowed just five earned runs.
UP NEXT FOR THE RIVER HAWKS
- Susquehanna takes its three-game win streak on the road for a four-game week of Landmark contests.
- They continue their series with Juniata in Huntingdon on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., having beaten the Eagles in their opening game on Mar. 19, 5-2.
- The River Hawks then head to Moravian for a three-game set, beginning Friday with one game at 3:00 p.m. and a doubleheader Saturday starting at 12 noon.
