MADISON, N.J. – The Drew University baseball team lost a pair of Landmark Conference games to Susquehanna University in extra innings Saturday afternoon at Doc Young Field. The River Hawks claimed a 5-4 decision in 10 innings in the opener, then captured the nightcap 8-3 in eight innings. Junior Pete Violante reached a milestone in the first game, picking up his 100th career strikeout.
 
Game 1 Highlights
• The Rangers (16-12, 6-5 LC) took an early lead on Susquehanna in the opener, scoring twice in the first inning on an RBI-single from senior Zach Lipshitz and a sacrifice fly from sophomore Cole Bosch.
• The River Hawks (14-11, 9-3 LC) came back with the next four runs versus Violante, scoring once in the second and three times in the fourth to go up 4-2.
• Drew rallied with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Bosch drilled a solo homer in the sixth before Lipshitz drove in junior Max Felsenstein in the seventh. With the score tied 4-4 after seven innings, it then turned into a nine-inning game, per Landmark Conference rules.
• Junior Davis Fouts came on to blank Susquehanna over the eighth and the ninth, but the visitors came up with a two-out rally in the 10th. Justin Miller singled and, after narrowly avoiding getting picked off first, was driven home by a double into the leftfield corner by Chris Corrado.
• Reliever Bobby Grigas (5-1) pitched the final 4 1/3 innings to earn the win for the River Hawks.
 
Game 2 Highlights
• The second game was a pitcher's duel for most of the contest between Susquehanna's Tyson Thrush and Drew's Jeff Serin. Each pitcher retired the first eight batters they faced.
• The River Hawks reached Serin with a third-inning single, and they would continue to threaten in each of Serin's final four innings. But he stranded five batters from the fourth through the sixth.
• Thrush carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning, when Lipshitz drilled a single to left and moved to second on an outfield error. Bosch went on to drive in Lipshitz with a two-out single.
• The River Hawks finally broke through with two runs in the seventh, but the Rangers would not go away. In the bottom half, senior Eric DiPietro smashed a double down the leftfield before scoring on a single from freshman Ryan Nagle.
• Susquehanna broke the game open with a six-run, six-hit eighth, when it sent 10 batters to the plate against a pair of Ranger relievers.
 
Top Peformers
• Lipshitz finished the day 3-for-8 with two runs and two RBIs while Felsenstein also collected three hits and a pair of runs.
• Violante scattered four runs on eight hits while walking just one and striking out four over seven innings. He struck out the final batter he faced, giving him the century mark for his career.
• Serin also worked seven innings, yielding only two runs on six hits and two walks while fanning six.
• Fouts gave up only one run on four hits and three walks over three innings of work.
 
Next Up
The two sides close out their three-game series on Sunday with a single nine-inning game back at Doc Young Field.