Baseball Scranton Athletic Communications

Scranton Baseball Opens Landmark Tournament with 13-8 Win Over Elizabethtown

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - The University of Scranton baseball team came out on top 13-8 against Elizabethtown at Kevin Scott Boyd Stadium, opening the Landmark Conference Playoffs with a win.  

The Basics 
  • Final Score: Scranton – 13, Elizabethtown – 8 
  • Records: Scranton (26-15); Moravian (26-15) 
  • Win: Kieran Lodewick (2-0); Loss: Joey Smith (1-6) 

How it Happened
  • Scranton wasted no time jumping ahead, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning to take a 4-0 lead. Conor Campbell and Logan Mason started the rally with back-to-back singles, and John Heitzman followed with a third straight base hit. An error on the play allowed Campbell to cross the plate for the game's first run. 
  • Mason later scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0, and one batter later, Matthew Gannon dropped down a bunt single to bring home Heitzman. James Nitti then hustled out an infield single to score Gannon and cap the four-run frame. 
  • Scranton exploded for five more runs in the top of the third inning. Campbell delivered a two-run double to score Vincent Napolitano and Nitti, extending the lead to 6-0. Campbell later came home on a wild pitch, and Joey Granko followed with a single that drove in Mason, and an error on the play allowed Heitzman to score as well, pushing the advantage to 9-0. 
  • Elizabethtown broke through against John DeStefano in the bottom half of the third. The Blue Jays loaded the bases with a walk and two singles before Mason Woolwine brought in their first run on a groundout. DeStefano prevented further damage, inducing back-to-back groundouts to escape the inning with just the one run allowed. 
  • The Blue Jays chased DeStefano from the game after he threw 91 pitches, drawing a walk and a hit by pitch to spark a rally in the bottom of the fifth inning. Elizabethtown quickly capitalized on the pitching change, as Nick Fiorini lined a two-run double down the left field line to trim Scranton's lead to 9-3. Ryan Boyd responded by getting the next batter to line into a double play, ending the threat and limiting the damage to just two runs. 
  • Scranton responded instantly in the top of the sixth, getting both runs back to stretch the lead back to nine. Gannon led off the frame with a double, and Jimmy Lundari followed with an RBI triple to make the score 10-3. One batter later, Napolitano drove in Gannon with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 11-3. 
  • In the bottom half of the inning, the Blue Jays answered with three runs, scoring once on an RBI single and adding two more on a two-run base hit to close the gap to 11-6. 
  • The Royals responded with insurance late. Heitzman delivered an RBI single in the top of the seventh, and in the eighth, Casey drove in Lundari with a single down the left field line to stretch the advantage to seven runs. 
  • Elizabethtown added two more in the bottom of the seventh on a bunt single and an error to trim the deficit to 13-8. 
  • Logan Mason entered on the mound for the Royals with two outs in the eighth and recorded the final out of the frame. He then worked a scoreless ninth inning to lock down the 13-8 victory. 

Up Next: 
  • With its win over Elizabethtown, combined with fifth-seeded Drew's victory over the top-seeded Wilkes, Scranton advances to play on Saturday, May 9, at 11 a.m. at Penn Medicine Park in Lancaster, Pa. The Royals will face the winner of Friday's matchup between Drew and second-seeded Susquehanna.