Box Score Madison, N.J. (April 25, 2014) – The Drew University baseball team (14-19, 7-8) dropped a hard fought game three of a Landmark Conference series with Catholic (20-15, 9-6) this afternoon, 9-8 at Doc Young Field. The Rangers currently sit tied with Merchant Marine for the fourth and final spot in the Landmark Conference playoffs.

"I'm extremely proud of our team," said head coach Brian Hirschberg. "They never quit, they battled to the very end and never gave up on each other," said the Rangers skipper.

Senior captain Matthew Kaplon finished his day at the plate batting .750 (3-for-4). Kaplon also recorded one of the three Ranger doubles and scored one of the team's eight runs in the loss. Classmate Dominic Reyes concluded his series with a 3-for-5 performance from the dish scoring two runs and registering a RBI. Reyes hit the other two doubles for the Rangers on the afternoon.

Catholic started the scoring in the first inning when a ball off the bat of John Palladino found a gap on the left side that would plate Brett Padula who singled to lead off the game. The Cardinals picked up another run in the top of the second on a Mike MacFarland RBI single through the left side. Drew responded scoring two runs in the bottom of the third to tie the game 2-2. Reyes doubled with one out in the third and scored two batters later on a hard hit grounder by Jonathan Rodrigues.  An Al Krause single would score Steve Kowalski, who finished the day 3-for-5, who reached earlier in the inning on a fielder's choice.

Drew jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the home half of the fifth again with help from Kowalski and Rodrigues. Rodrigues single up the middle to plate Kowalski who reached first with one out in the inning. Rodrigues would then score on a throwing error by the Catholic third baseman. The Cardinals countered with a three run sixth inning to take a 6-5 lead.

The Rangers answered again with three runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth. Following a Kaplon infield single and Mike Di Donato drawn walk, Reyes stepped to the plate and delivered a single that plated Kaplon for Drew's first run of the sixth. Rodrigues would once again come up big for the Rangers with an infield single that would put Drew out ahead 7-5.

CUA responded in the seventh off a three-run blast by Paul Burmester over the left field wall for his fourth homer of the season. A Palladino RBI double put the Cardinals out in front 9-7 heading into the bottom of the ninth.

Sophomore Mike Klinger kept the Ranger comeback hopes alive with a lead off triple in the bottom of the ninth inning. J.C. Rasic delivered a pinch-hit infield single that scored Klinger drawing the Rangers within one, 9-8 but the last ditch effort fell short as Chris Nee retired the final two Ranger batters for his seventh save of the season.

Sophomore southpaw Dylan Baxter made his sixth start of the season on the bump for the Rangers this afternoon. Baxter went six strong innings allowing seven runs on 12 hits, while striking out four batters. Michael Manfra pitched two innings in relief allowing two runs on three hits and striking out two batters. Junior reliever Jon Vilicich pitched the ninth for the Rangers. Vilicich retired all three batters he faced holding the Catholic offense hitless.

The Rangers look to rebound tomorrow with an important Landmark Conference doubleheader as they play host to Scranton at 1:00 p.m. at Doc Young Field. Drew will honor long time baseball coach Vincent Masco by retiring his number 19 prior to the start of the game. The Rangers will also recognize the five seniors in the graduating class of 2014. Pregame ceremonies are scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m.