MADISON, N.J. – Senior Kyle Johnson went 2-for-4 with a home run and the Drew University baseball team defeated cross-town rival Saint Elizabeth University 11-6 in a non-conference outing Tuesday afternoon at Doc Young Field at Lonnstrom Stadium.
 
Johnson, who also posted two runs and two RBIs, made the most of his first start of the season. The first baseman clouted his first career home run, a majestic blast to left that put the Rangers up 7-5 in the fifth inning. The homer was the 23rd of the season for Drew, tying the team record set in 2019. Johnson became the ninth Ranger to go deep this spring.
 
Sophomore Zach Maxwell finished 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles for the Rangers (17-13) while classmate Anthony Vallaro doubled and drove in two runs.

Senior Brandon Kobryn (2-0) earned the win for Drew, tossing five innings and scattering six hits and five runs. Senior Chris Tobia followed with two innings of relief, allowing one run, before freshman Jordan Delude closed it out by firing a pair of shutout innings to earn his second save of the year.

Each side cracked eight hits, but the Rangers were also the beneficiaries of 11 walks and three hit batters.
 
The Eagles (3-21) took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second, but Drew answered with one in the second before going ahead 5-3 following a four-run fourth, which was capped by an RBI-double from Maxwell.
 
Saint Elizabeth tied it in the fifth but the Rangers responded with two runs in the bottom half. Sophomore Dylan Gallagher was hit by a pitch leading off and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly from Vallaro, which gave the Rangers the lead for good. Johnson capped the inning with his home run.
 
The visitors pushed across a run in the seventh to make it 7-6 before Drew gave itself some breathing room with a four-run eighth. Gallagher smacked an RBI-single before junior Zachary Chhabria's RBI-groundout make it 9-6. Vallaro followed up with a ringing double that brought home another run, then scored on a double steal with sophomore Kevin Burgess.
 
The Rangers are back in action on Wednesday, when they visit Marywood University in a non-conference outing starting at 3:30 p.m.