Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Madison, N.J. (April 26, 2014) – Drew University baseball (16-19, 9-8) picked up two wins on day one of a two-day, three game Landmark Conference series with Scranton (9-19, 4-13). On Vincent Masco number retirement and senior day, the Rangers won game one 5-2 and picked up an 8-1 victory in game two.

This afternoon prior to the doubleheader the Rangers retired No. 19, worn by former baseball head coach Vince Masco. In 28 seasons at the helm for the Rangers, Masco amassed 387 career victories, five postseason appearances and garnered two Coach of the Year awards.

"This weekend is a must win weekend for us," said Drew head coach Brian Hirschberg. "We can only control how we do in our series and our guys showed up and played very good baseball today" added Hirschberg on his team's performance this afternoon.

Junior Steve Kowalski continued his hot play at short for the Rangers on the afternoon. Kowalski went a combined 4-for-7 with six RBIs. He also scored two runs and stole two bases, bringing his season total to a Landmark leading 21 stolen bases. Freshman Jonathan Rodrigues finished his day at the dish batting .429 (3-for-7) while scoring a run.

The Royals scored first in game one on a Kyle Hamer single down the third base line that scored Ross Danzig. The Rangers tied the game in the third inning when Al Krause hustled down the line to beat out the potential double play. Krause reaching kept the inning alive and scored Kowalski who reached earlier in the innings with an infield single. The Rangers added four more runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 5-1 lead. A single from senior Matthew Kaplon plated Bobby Miskura for Drew's first run of the inning. With two outs, Kowalski delivered a bases-clearing triple scoring three runs. The Royals added a run in the seventh before Ranger relief pitcher Matthew Hunter retired three batters to pick up his third save of the season. Hunter pitched the seventh allowing just one hit before striking out two Royals to end the game.

The Ranger offense exploded in game two for an 8-1 victory. Drew scored one run in each of the first and second innings before erupting for five in the bottom of the third. After back-to-back walks drawn by Krause and Miskura, Mike Klinger hit a single up the middle that would plate Krause who scored from second. An Anthony Feltre double would score Miskura on the very next pitch. Following a Dominic Reyes walk that scored the third run of the inning, Kowalski again drove a ball into left center scoring two runs. The Royals scored their first and only run of the game in the fourth inning on a Mike Trabulsi groundout that scored Ross Danzig who doubled to lead off the inning. Drew added an insurance run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Feltre, to take a 8-1 lead.

Sophomore Drew Blanco pitched game one for the Rangers on the afternoon. Blanco went six innings allowing two runs on six hits while striking out five batters on the way to his second win of the season. Tommy Broyles got the nod for game two and did not disappoint. Broyles went the distance pitching all seven innings surrendering just one run on four hits. He also struck out a career-high five batters on the way to his second win of the season.

"Drew and Tommy were bulldogs today," said the Ranger head coach. "Any time that you can have a starting pitching performance like what Blanco and Broyles gave us today it gives your offense the opportunity to put runs on the board and not have to worry about playing in come-from-behind situations."

With the victory the Rangers keep playoff hopes alive heading into game three of the series tomorrow April 27. The Rangers are currently tied for the fourth and final playoff position with Merchant Marine. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 noon.