Box Score MADISON, N.J. (April 19, 2014) – After dropping a Landmark Conference doubleheader to Susquehanna University on Friday, the Drew University baseball team was well aware how important a win in the finale on Saturday would be.
 
The Rangers (13-16, 7-7 Landmark Conference) rose to the challenge and scored a 3-2, walk-off win in 10 innings to salvage the third game in the set and put Drew back in position to control its own destiny and qualify for the conference tournament in two weeks.
 
Junior right fielder Al Krause was the last in a sequence of Ranger heroes on Saturday as he delivered the walk-off RBI single to score junior shortstop Steve Kowalski in the bottom of the 10^th.
 
"It felt so great," said Krause, who was 0-for-4 going into his decisive at-bat in extra innings. "Going into that inning, we said we have the top of the order coming up; let's win this game. We knew Steve would find a way to get on, J-Rod would move him over, and I told them I would win this game."
 
Kowalski led off the 10^th with an infield single, and advanced to second on a Susquehanna throwing error on the play. Freshman designated hitter Jonathan Rodrigues executed the perfect sacrifice bunt to move Kowalski to third with just one out, setting up Krause's heroics.
 
The walk-off win was enabled by a stellar relief pitching performance by freshman Michael Manfra. The rookie hurler entered a 2-2 game and tossed the final 3.2 frames without allowing a run. Manfra allowed three hits and two walks, while striking out three Crusaders to improve to 2-0 on the year.
 
"Manfra came in and absolutely shut the door," Krause said. "His attitude today was phenomenal; he just didn't care about what was going on. It seems he had runners in scoring position every inning, and every time he shut them down and gave us a chance to win the game."
 
Susquehanna (22-9, 11-4) was the first in position to win the game after taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Drew would respond in the fourth, when the Rangers had runners on first and third with one out. Sophomore third baseman Mike Klinger laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Krause, who reached on a Crusader error to lead off the inning.
 
Drew took a 2-1 lead in the following inning on another unearned run. Senior centerfielder Dominic Reyes smacked a one-out double, and scored on a fielding error two batters later.
 
The Crusaders drew even in the top of the seventh off Rangers senior starting pitcher Ken Myers to set the score at 2-2. Myers went 6.1 innings, allowing five hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
 
"There's a little bit of a sense of relief," said head coach Brian Hirschberg. "There was an incredible competitive spirit out there today; you could see it. It felt good. Baseball is one of those sports where in a long season, there are ebbs and flows. You really want to find that fight at this time of the year. After dropping a doubleheader yesterday, they did what they had to do today."
 
The victory puts the Rangers back into a qualifying position for the Landmark Conference Tournament with four games to play in 2014. Drew is one game ahead in the loss column over The United States Merchant Marine Academy, and one behind third-place The Catholic University of America.
 
Drew continues non-conference play next week with a trip to Ramapo College on Monday, April 21 at 3:30 p.m. The next conference game will take place on Friday, April 25 at 4 p.m. when Catholic comes to Doc Young Field to conclude a three-game conference series.