MADISON, N.J. – Junior Tyler Bell and senior Brandon Kobryn combined on a nine-hitter and the Drew University baseball team won the opening game of its final Landmark Conference series, edging Juniata College 3-2 on Friday at Doc Young Field at Lonnstrom Stadium.
 
With the win, the Rangers (21-15, 11-11 LC) inched closer to a berth in the Landmark Conference Championship tournament. Drew can punch its postseason ticket with a single victory in its doubleheader versus Juniata on Sunday, or a single loss by Catholic in its three-game series over the weekend.
 
Bell (4-5) started and tossed the first six innings, scattering seven hits while striking out four and yielding just one walk. Kobryn fired three shutout innings and struck out four to earn his first save of the year.
 
Drew never trailed after scoring twice without the benefit of a hit in the second inning, capitalizing on two walks, two errors, and a hit by pitch. Sophomore Anthony Vallaro drove in the game's first round on a ground ball before classmate Frank Master drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-0.
 
Juniata (11-24, 4-18 LC) made it a 2-1 game in the third before the Rangers pushed across a key run in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore Zach Maxwell was hit by a pitch leading off, and he eventually scored on back-to-back singles from freshman Nick Donofrio and junior Tyler Giordano.
 
Bell induced an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to end the fourth after the Eagles had runners on the corners. But the visitors pulled to within a run in the fifth, when Jace Irvin led off with a triple and scored on a single from David Beard. However, Bell settled in two retire the last three batters of the inning, striking out two in the frame.
 
In the top of the sixth, Juniata had the tying run aboard when the leadoff hitter reached on an error, but Bell picked off a runner for the second time in the game, throwing to first with the runner breaking for second, leading to a 1-3-4 putout.
 
Kobryn came on to start the seventh and immediately worked a three-up, three-down inning. He ran into trouble in the eighth, when the Eagles had runners on second and third following a pair of two-out singles and a wild pitch. But in perhaps the key moment of the game, Kobryn struck out Juniata No. 5 hitter Jackson Cunnane to put out the threat.
 
Kobryn then pitched a perfect ninth, thanks to a pair of big plays from two defensive replacements who entered the game at the start of the inning. Freshman shortstop Elijah Frix fielded a ground ball to the left side hit right between him and diving third baseman Nick Bisaccia, making the play in a cloud of dust for the first out. Junior first baseman Zachary Chhabria then picked a ball out of the dirt on a long throw across the diamond from Bisaccia for the second out before Kobryn rolled up a 4-3 groundout to end the game.
 
Juniata used four pitchers who combined to allow just two hits and retired the final nine batters.
 
Drew completes the series with a doubleheader on Sunday starting at noon. A Senior Day ceremony will be held before the opener.