Scranton Clinches Sweep Over Bryant & Stratton-Syracuse
By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics
On Saturday afternoon, the hometown Penn State Scranton Lions baseball team picked up two nice wins over non-conference foe the Bryant & Stratton-Syracuse Bobcats, as they finished up Friday’s suspended contest due to darkness with an 11-0 mercy rule five inning triumph, and in the single nine inning affair they won a 17-15 back-and-forth slugfest. After defeating the Bobcats in game one of yesterday’s doubleheader by a 10-9 margin in epic extra innings comeback fashion, to go along with today’s pair of victories, the Lions swept Bryant & Stratton in all three of their battles this season and are now on a red hot three game winning streak, as they see their overall record improve to 9-13 and they remain at 0-4 in their crucial conference play schedule.
In the 11-0 five inning victorious effort, the Lions scored early and often, as they tallied a run in the bottom half of the first inning, a three spot in the third, scored five more times in the fourth, and added a couple more in their fifth and final at-bats to clinch the dominant win. Scranton out hit their opponent by a 7-3 margin in the ball game.
Scranton was led on offense by the dynamic duo of stand-out sophomore second baseman Joel Brennan and junior third baseman Alex Brinkman who each recorded multi-hit performances in the showdown. Brennan went a near flawless 3-4 at the plate, crushing two mammoth home runs, a solo shot to left in the bottom of the third and then a walk-off two run bomb in the fifth to clinch the 10 run mercy rule, to go along with his trio of runs scored, a game-high four RBI, and stole a base for good measure in his stellar showing. Brinkman was a perfect 2-2 at the dish, drew a walk, scored two times, and swiped a pair of bases. The Lions other two base hits came from senior center fielder Guy Mushow who went 1-2, stole a hat trick of bases, walked once, scored twice, and drove home two runs, and junior shortstop Martino Tobasco was 1-1 at the plate, walked twice, tallied a run, knocked one in, and added a stolen base to boot. Meanwhile, the Bobcats were held to only a trio of hits, as sophomore third baseman Cristian Berroa and stud freshman catcher Victor Pena recorded them, as Berroa led the way going 2-3 at the dish, and Pena was 1-2 and also reached base via a hit by pitch.
In the pitching side of things, the Lions from Scranton started senior right-hander John Paffenroth on the bump and he earned the win, as he hurled the first four frames, only giving up two base hits, no runs, walked a trio, and fanned three batters in his outing. Freshman righty Thor Kelly Jr. wrapped things up on the mound when the game resumed on Saturday, as he tossed a shutout inning, allowing just one hit, no walks, and struck out a pair in his strong relief appearance. Meanwhile, the Bobcats started sophomore southpaw Jostin Martinez-Disla on the hill and he took the tough loss, as he threw four innings, surrendering nine runs, eight of them earned, six hits, walked a whopping 10 batters, and fanned a hat trick of Scranton hitters in his start. Fellow sophomore lefty Terrance Pree was on the mound to finish things up when his club got 10-run ruled, as he did not retire a batter, walked no one, gave up two earned runs, and the one hit he allowed was the big two run homer to end the contest.
In the 17-15 nine inning Scranton win, the road warriors from Syracuse got on the scoreboard early with a quartet of runs in the top half of the first inning, a big five spot in the fourth, another robust five run outburst in the seventh, and scored once in their final at-bats in the ninth frame to account for their impressive 15 run scoring barrage. Meanwhile, the Lions tallied runs in every inning except for the bottom of the fifth, as they pounded out three runs in the first, five in the second, two in the third, two more in the fourth, one in the sixth, a run in the seventh, and three pivotal go-ahead runs in the bottom of the eighth to break the 14-14 deadlock tied contest and set up their big victory. Scranton out hit their opponent by a slim 12-11 margin in the matchup.
The Lions had a hat trick of players put up stalwart multi-hit performances in the battle, as Mushow, freshman DH Josh Leonori, and sophomore first baseman Dylan Quinn set the pace on the offensive attack for their squad. Mushow led the way going an impressive 3-4 at the plate, hammering a solo home run over the left field fence in the fourth inning, cranked a nice opposite field RBI double in the first frame, drew a walk, scored twice, drove home a pair, and stole a couple of bases. Leonori went 2-4, walked once, tallied two runs, and knocked in a trio. Quinn was 2-2, blasting a double, drew a walk, scored twice, and had an RBI. Scranton’s other five hits came off the bats of sophomore catcher Isaiah Alicea who reached base every time he stepped to the plate, as he went 1-1 with a beautiful bunt single down the third base line, walked four times, got hit by a pitch, and tallied a couple of runs, Brennan was 1-4, scored twice, drew a walk, and swiped a bag, speedy freshman right fielder Joseph McIntyre also went 1-4, walked once, scored a couple of runs, and stole a base, sophomore second baseman Michael Igneri Jr. was 1-2 with a nice two run double to right field in the second inning, walked twice, stole a base, and drove home two, and last but certainly not least, Tobasco came off the bench late and in his lone at-bat hit a clutch RBI single to center and scored his team’s last run of the day on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth.
Meanwhile, the Bobcats had a quartet of players with multi-hit ball games, as Berroa, junior second baseman/pitcher Tatsuya Enosawa, sophomore first baseman/second baseman Colin Murphy, and left fielder Disla led the way on the offensive side of the ball for their club. Berroa went a solid 3-6 at the plate, smacked two doubles, scored a trio of runs, and stole a base. Enosawa was 2-4, walked three times, scored three runs, and had an RBI. Murphy went 2-5 with a roaring double, drew a walk, scored once, and drove home three. Disla came off the bench and was 2-4 at the dish, as he crushed a go-ahead two run homer deep to right in the top half of the seventh to give his team a short lived 14-13 advantage, he also recorded a RBI triple in the ninth frame to drive home his squad’s final run of the contest, to go along with a run scored, and a team-high three RBI. The Bobcats other two base hits came from their lightning quick freshman center fielder Tyler Webster who went 1-5, stole a whopping four bases, drew a walk, got hit by a pitch, and scored a couple of runs, and senior lefty swinging catcher Dylan Hodgeman was 1-2 with an integral two run double he pulled to right field in the top of the seventh, he walked three times, got hit by a pitch, and knocked in a trio of runs during the proceedings.
In the pitching department, Scranton had sophomore right-hander Bronson Kilmer toe the slab first, as he pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing eight runs, only three of them earned, gave up a couple of hits, walked seven, and struck out five batters in the matinee. Junior lefty Kevin Rivera came out of the bullpen and in his two innings of hard work he surrendered just one earned run, a hat trick of hits, walked three, and fanned a hitter in his strong relief outing. Freshman righty Jonathan Greenburg came out of the pen next and in his 1 2/3 innings on the bump allowed five earned runs, four hits, walked only one, and struck out a trio. Finally, flame throwing sophomore right-handed closer Michael Paciotti earned the victory in relief for his squad, as he hurled two frames, giving up just one earned run, two base hits, one walk, and also fanned three Bobcat batters in his electrifying performance out of the pen. Meanwhile, Bryant & Stratton started freshman righty Pena on the hill and he got the no decision on the mound, as he tossed a gritty six innings, surrendering 13 runs, nine of them earned, eight base hits, walked nine, and struck out four Lions hitters in his heavy workload of 138 pitches thrown. Lastly, right-handed hurler Enosawa picked up the loss in relief in his two innings pitched, as he allowed four earned runs, four hits, walked three, and fanned a batter in his bullpen outing.
Now veteran head coach Collin Ferguson and his 9-13 Penn State Scranton baseball squad will look to stay red hot and extend their three game winning streak and hopefully notch their first crucial conference victory of the season when they next travel on the road to square off against league rival Penn State York this Thursday afternoon in a scheduled 2pm twin bill at WellSpan Park, the gorgeous home of the York Revolution pro baseball team. Meanwhile, head coach Rich Dessureau Jr. and his 1-13 Bryant & Stratton-Syracuse ball club, who are 0-2 in conference play, will look to bounce right back from these tough defeats to Scranton and snap their mini three game losing skid when they next go on the road this upcoming Friday, April 10th, to face off against Bryant & Stratton-Albany.