MADISON, N.J. – The Drew University baseball team jumped to a 3-0 first-inning lead and the Rangers defeated the University of Scranton 7-3 for a Landmark Conference win at Doc Young Field at Lonnstrom Stadium on Wednesday.
 
With the victory, the Rangers (20-15, 12-9 LC) reached the 20-win mark first time since the 2019 squad finished 20-17. Additionally, Drew's 12 Landmark Conference victories are believed to be the most conference wins in team history.
 
Drew won two out of three games versus Scranton (23-9, 12-7 LC) this season to capture a series victory over the Royals for the first time since posting a sweep in 2019.
 
The Rangers are now tied with Susquehanna University for fourth place in the Landmark Conference standings heading into Drew's final conference weekend of the season. The top-five teams qualify for the Landmark Conference Championship postseason tournament.
 
Juniors Kenny Yonker and Connor Ruscansky combined to throw 5 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for the Rangers. Yonker (1-1) tossed three innings and yielded four hits while striking out five to earn the win while Ruscansky worked the last 2 1/3 innings to pick up the save, allowing just two hits while striking out three. The two and starter Tyler Bell combined to leave 17 runners on base.
 
Senior Nate Miller finished 2-for-3 with a home run for the Rangers while junior Dallas Lorenzetti, junior Ryan Jones, and freshman Jack Mocik all finished 2-for-4. Lorenzetti doubled and drove in two runs while Jones also had a pair of RBIs.
 
Senior Anthony Diaz Jr. led off with a double to spark the Rangers in their big first inning. Senior Billy Coleman put the Rangers on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly before Jones capped the inning with an RBI-single to give the Rangers their early three-run lead.
 
Bell blanked the Royals over the first three innings before Miller blasted his homer leading off the fourth, marking his team-leading fifth long ball of the season.
 
Scranton rallied to make it a 4-3 game with a three-run, three-hit fourth. But Yonker prevented further damage when he came on in relief with runners on first and second and struck out the only batter he faced to end the inning.
 
The Rangers padded their lead with a three-run fifth, which was capped by an RBI-single from Jones and a two-run double from Lorenzetti.
 
The Royals threatened over each of the last four innings, but the Rangers escaped from bases-loaded jams from the sixth through the innings. Scranton also put runners on first and second in the ninth before Ruscansky induced a flyout to end the game.
 
Drew concludes Landmark Conference regular-season play this weekend, when it hosts Elizabethtown College in a three-game series, starting with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.'