MADISON, N.J. – The Drew University baseball team scored five runs in the first inning and held off a late Scranton rally en route to a 7-6 Landmark Conference victory Wednesday afternoon at Doc Young Field at Lonnstrom Stadium.
 
The Rangers (12-13, 5-8 LC) clinched their season series with the Royals after topping Scranton 10-8 back on March 26. The two sides conclude their three-game series April 23 back at Scranton.
 
Freshman Nicholas Garbooshian made his first career start on the mound and held Scranton to one run on two hits and three walks over 4 2/3 innings while coming away with a no-decision. 
 
Three additional pitchers took the hill for Drew, including junior Brandon Kobryn (4-2), who earned the win after tossing 1 2/3 innings, yielding one run on two hits and three walks. Sophomore Graham Ross worked 2 2/3 innings before freshman Breckyn DeAngelis came on record the final out after the Royals had rallied with three runs in the top of the ninth.
 
Offensively, senior Anthony Diaz Jr. went 2-for-3 with two runs scored while classmate Mike Gallaro finished 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. In addition, freshman Frank Master stole three bases. 
 
The Rangers wasted no time establishing control of the game as they plated their five runs on four hits and one error in the first to assume an early 5-0 advantage. Senior Will Fritch and Gallaro each drilled two-run singles in the inning that saw nine Rangers come to the plate.
 
Scranton pushed across a run on one hit, a hit batsman, and a sacrifice fly in the second, but it would be their lone run that Garbooshian yielded. He left the game in the fifth, when Kobryn came in to get the final out of the inning with the bases loaded.
 
The Royals narrowed the deficit to 5-3 with single runs in the sixth and eighth. However, Drew picked up a pair of big insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, with both scoring on an infield single from senior Anthony Hernandez and a throwing error on the play.
 
In the top of the ninth, Scranton narrowed the deficit to 7-6 following three hits, capped by a two-run homer from TJ Pleban. DeAngelis was then summoned out of the bullpen and after an infield single, he induced a game-ending flyout to left.
 
The Rangers return home on Thursday, when they take on local rival Saint Elizabeth University in a non-conference tilt starting at 3:30 p.m.