SELINSGROVE, Pa. - The Drew University baseball team saw its 2021 season come to a close with a 5-4 loss at Susquehanna University in the play-in game of the Landmark Conference Championship on Tuesday.

The Rangers led 3-1 through six innings, only to see the River Hawks rally with four runs over the seventh and eighth innings to go up 5-3.

Drew put up a rally of its own in the ninth, scoring once and putting the tying run on second, but Susquehanna retired the final two batters of the game.

Senior Tim Jinks turned in an impressive start for the Rangers, holding the River Hawks to two runs on two hits and four walks over six innings of work while tying a career-high with eight strikeouts. 

Sophomore Matthew Kroll went 2-for-5 with an RBI-double for Drew while senior Nate Race also collected a pair of hits. Senior Tom Burr executed a pair of sacrifice bunts in his final collegiate appearance for the Rangers.

Drew threatened right off the bat, as senior Cole Bosch led off the game with a double. However, Susquehanna starter Kyle Sears escaped without allowing a run in the inning.

Jinks was in command early, retiring the first six batters he faced. But the Hawks struck in the third, scoring on an infield single to make it 1-0.

Drew rallied to take the lead with singles runs in three straight innings from the fourth through the sixth. In the fourth, sophomore K.J. Hallgren led off with a single, moved to second on an error, was bunted to third by Burr, and scored on a groundout from junior Shane Benson.

The next inning, Race singled leading off, advanced to third on a passed ball and wild pitch, and scored on a single from Kroll as Drew went up 2-1.

The Rangers put the leadoff man on base for the third straight inning in the fifth, as junior Ryan Nagle drew a walk before eventually scoring on an infield single from Race as the visitors nudged their lead to 3-1.

In the meantime, Jinks was nearly perfect from the fourth through the sixth, allowing just two walks over the stretch. But after issuing a base on balls to start the seventh, he was relieved by junior Teddy Hoxie, who no-hit the River Hawks through 5 2/3 innings just two days earlier. Susquehanna would score once in the seventh to cut the gap to 3-2.

The hosts broke through in the eighth, scoring three times on three hits and two walks. The big blow was a two-out, two-run single through the left side from Kris Morrow that made it 4-3, and the Hawks would add an insurance run on a single from Craig Roumes.

The Rangers refused to go quietly, however. Bosch drew a one-out walk before scoring on a double to left from Kroll. But reliever Will Carey recorded the final two outs. 

Drew was making its first Landmark Conference playoff appearance since 2017. In the past, only the top-four teams in the conference standings qualified, but due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, all seven teams are participating in this year's postseason.