Scranton Takes Doubleheader From Drew
SCRANTON, Pa. — The University of Scranton baseball team
is back in the playoff hunt in the Landmark Conference.
Facing a must-win situation Sunday afternoon at Connell Park, the
Royals got pitching gems from junior Todd McGee (Chadds Ford,
Pa./Garnet Valley) and senior Charles Comprelli (Harrison, N.J./St.
Peter’s Preparatory) in completing a three-game sweep of Drew
University.
In the first game, McGee struck out four and allowed only three
hits in picking up the complete game victory as the Royals went on
to post a 6-1 victory. In the nightcap, Comprelli threw six
scoreless innings, allowed only two hits and struck out three as
Scranton cruised to a 10-2 win.
The Royals, now 10-12 overall and 3-6 in the conference, still have
a ways to go, especially since they play two of their final three
conference series on the road, to claim one of the four tournament
spots.
In both games today, Scranton set the tone early, jumping out to
early leads.
In the opener, sophomore Chris Stallone (South Plainfield,
N.J./South Plainfield) hit a double to right center field in the
first inning, stole third, and came around to score on a ground out
by senior Chris Psihoules (Washington Township, N.J./Westwood).
Junior Chris Bligh (Jersey City, N.J./St. Peter’s
Preparatory) then followed through with a two-out single and came
around to score on a perfectly-executed hit-and-run double to left
center field by sophomore David Giglio (Wallingford,
Conn./Fairfield Preparatory) to give Scranton a 2-0 lead.
After the Rangers added a run in the second, the Royals added two
in fifth and two in the sixth to set the final score. Psihoules
drove in a run with seventh double of the season, advanced to third
on a single by Bligh, and eventually scored on a ground out to the
left side of the Drew infield by Giglio. Comprelli came through
with an RBI single in the sixth and Bligh drew a bases-loaded walk
to drive in another run.
It would be all the offense McGee would need. He allowed only one
hit over the final five innings to pick up his first win of the
season and lowered his earned run average to 4.94. Junior Thomas
Sharp (Toms Rivers, N.J./Toms River East) had two of the
Rangers’ three hits.
The Royals banged out 17 hits in the second game, including five in
the first inning to build up a 4-0 lead. Psihoules drove in two
runs with a single and Giglio and sophomore Jon Psihoules
(Washington Township, N.J./Westwood) followed with RBI singles.
After adding runs in the second and third, Scranton put the game
out of reach with a three-run rally in the fourth that included a
triple by sophomore Joe Amicucci (Pomona, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) and
back-to-back-to-back RBI doubles by Bligh, Giglio and freshman
Rocky Sawyer (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty).
Giglio finished with three hits and two RBI and Chris Psihoules had
two hits and three RBI. Jon Psihoules stood out defensively,
finishing with five put outs. He also threw out a Ranger runner who
got caught leaning too far off first-base on a fly ball to right
field to complete a double play.
Comprelli was in command throughout the game, allowing only a
single to Sharp in the third inning and a single to Andrew Baxter
(Ringoes, N.J./The Hun School) in the fourth. Comprelli earned his
second win of the season and lowered his ERA to 5.01.
Chris Stallone led off the bottom of the first with a single to
extend his hitting streak to 23 games. The Royals will take on
Misericordia University in a non-conference game this Wednesday,
April 8, in Dallas, Pennsylvania, before hosting Catholic in a
7-inning doubleheader Friday afternoon at Connell Park beginning at
1:00 p.m.
Story provided by Scranton Sports Information
