Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MADISON, N.J. (April 17, 2014) – In the thick of a mid-April push toward the Landmark Conference playoffs, the Drew University baseball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader with Susquehanna University on Friday afternoon at Doc Young Field.
 
The Crusaders (22-8, 11-3 Landmark) solidified their position at second place in the conference with a 6-1 win in Game 1, followed by a 13-1 victory in the second game.
 
The Rangers (12-16, 6-7) are currently in fifth place, one spot out of a playoff qualifier behind The United States Merchant Marine Academy (7-7), who has played one more game than Drew and holds the series head-to-head tiebreaker. That scenario makes the series finale with Susquehanna on Saturday at noon all the more crucial.
 
"It's extremely important," said third-year head coach Brian Hirschberg. "You never want to say that your season comes down to one game before the last weekend, but our backs are against the wall a little bit. I think our guys are ready to respond to that. We know that we didn't play our best baseball today, and we're accountable for the way we play."
 
Hirschberg added that his squad can certainly thrive getting right back to the diamond a day later with the corrections they have to make fresh in their minds.
 
"I always tell our team that one of the nice things about the sport of baseball is that you don't have to wait a week to play again," the Drew headman said. "We're right back here 24 hours later and have an opportunity to make it right."
 
In Game 1, sophomore starting pitcher Dylan Baxter was locked in a pitcher's duel with the Crusaders' Casey Hood. Baxter retired 10 Susquehanna batters in a row through four innings, and allowed just three hits through five.
 
"Baxter is very consistent," Hirschberg said. "He's solidifying himself as the pitcher we can lean on coming down the stretch this season. He continues to perform well."
 
Drew was first to break the zeroes in Game 1 after some successful small ball in the bottom of the fourth inning. Junior shortstop Steve Kowalski led off the frame with a single and promptly stole second base, his 15^th theft of the season. Freshman designated hitter Jonathan Rodrigues moved Kowalski to third with a well-placed groundout to first base, allowing junior right fielder Al Krause to bring Kowalski home with a sacrifice fly for the 1-0 lead.
 
Two hits and error helped the Crusaders tie the contest at 1-1 in the next inning. Susquehanna took the lead for good in the sixth after a one-out, RBI double made it 2-1.
 
The Crusaders piled on in the seventh with five hits for four more runs to set the final score at 6-1.
 
Kowalski was 3-for-3 in the contest, increasing his batting average to a now team-high .330. His 15 stolen bases rank in a second place tie in the Landmark Conference.
 
Game 2 started off on the right foot for Susquehanna, who scored three runs in the top of the first to set the tone for a consistent offensive effort that saw the Crusaders score at least one run in all seven innings.
 
Drew got one back in the bottom of the first thanks to an RBI groundout from Krause to cut the lead to 3-1. The play scored Kowalski, who crossed the plate for the 16^th time this season, also a team-high.
 
Susquehanna would continue to increase its lead. With a 10-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth, Crusaders' starting pitcher Spencer Hotaling had a potential no-hitter broken up when Rodrigues singled up the middle with two outs in the books for the Rangers' only hit of the contest.
 
After Saturday's series finale at Doc Young Field, the Rangers will have four more conference games remaining on the schedule. Drew will conclude its series with The Catholic University of America on Friday, April 25 at home before a three-game set with The University of Scranton beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 26.