Scranton Sweeps Baseball in Twinbill at Ripken Experience

MYRTLE BEACH – Suffolk baseball dropped a doubleheader to Scranton to open its action at the Ripken Experience Sunday. The Rams slipped in game one by a 10-5 margin, before closing the night cap with a 4-1 setback. 

THE BASICS
GAME ONE SCORE: Suffolk 5 | Scranton 10
GAME TWO SCORE: Suffolk 1 | Scranton 4
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-2) | Scranton (5-1-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Both sides put kept each other quiet in the first inning before Scranton's bats went off in the top of the second. Steven Rossi quickly got the first two outs of the inning with a punchout looking followed by a strikeout swinging. From there, the Royals rallied on a two-out rally. They chucked the bags on a base hit up the middle, walk and a hit by went to jump start a six-run scoring stretch that put the Rams in a 6-0 hole.  

Suffolk responded in the home half of the inning. Just like Scranton, the Rams runs came with two outs. Luke Harderand Harry Painter stood on the corner after hitting a double and single, respectively. The junior and freshman came in on Jonny Gilbride's double to left field and Gilbride scored thanks to Garret Roberts single to right to cut the margin in half, 6-3.  

The score remained the same until the top of the fourth when Scranton tacked on two more to push its advantage to 8-3. The Royals would add another in the fifth and sixth, respectively, to stretch the distance to seven, 10-3.  

Suffolk's patience at the plate paid off in the sixth as Blase Cormier drew a bases loaded walk. A pitching change and two batters later Painter single through the left side to bring in Joe Ward, who reached on a single to center, to slice the gap down to five, 10-5. The pair of runs looked to jump start a Rams rally, however, Royals' reliever George Sengos gained composure and punched out pinch hitter Gino Desimone and Gilbride to minimize the damage. 

Both hurlers in the seventh retired the side to keep the 10-5 final in Scranton's favor.  

Scranton jumped out to a 3-0 lead to get game two going. Suffolk answered in the top of the second with a run of its own. Harder opened the inning with a double down the left field line to set up Painter for an RBI. The designated hitter collected on a base hit to pull the Rams within two.  

The Royals capitalized on an inning-opening error in the fourth to restore the three-run cushion, which stayed through the remainder of the night cap as the Rams were limited to just a pair of base runners over the final three frames.  

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Rossi suffered the setback in game one after allowing eight runs, seven earned, on seven hits and two walks in 4.0 innings. Suffolk's starter did manage to strikeout six in the loss. 
• EJ Birch (2.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 Ks) and Shreyas Parikh (1.0 IP) came out of the pen in the double feature's opener. 
• Nick Reiser took the loss in the game two. He let up four runs on four hits, three homers, with six punchouts in 3.1 innings. 
• Casey Sullivan and Pierce Salbego each shoved scoreless relief. Sullivan notched 2.1 innings with a pair of walks and three Ks, while Salbego fanned one batter. 
• Scranton used three different arms for the victory in game one, which went on James Gadue's (2.0 IP, 2 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 2 Ks) line. 
• Hunter Ralston (3.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 Ks) started for the Royals, while Sengos (2.0 IP, 1 H, 4 Ks) closed the opener. 
• Daniel Johnson grabbed the nightcap with after a one-run, seven-hit, two-strikeout effort in 5.0 innings. 
• Ryan Heiser closed the outing for the Royals with 2.0 frames of scoreless action with one hit and two strikeouts.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Harder led the way at the dish with a 3-for-6 effort in the series. Two of his hits were good for two bags. The right fielder scored twice.  
• Painter registered a 3-for-6 performance at the plate with two RBI. 
• Gilbride recorded two hits, one double, two RBI, one stolen base and scored once. 
• Christian Seariac supplied three hits, and one run.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk met Scranton for the first time since March 10, 2007 and second and third time overall. 
• The Rams have never defeated the Royals and slip to 0-3 in the all-time series. 
• All three games in the Suffolk, Scranton series have come on a neutral diamond. 
• Scranton has outscored Suffolk 27-16 all-time. 
• Gilbride, Harder, Painter, Seariac and Ward has registered a hit in all three games this season. 
• Painter matched a career-high two hits in game one versus the Royals. 
• Reiser made his first collegiate start on the mound in game two. 
• Salbego and Parikh made their collegiate debuts.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk looks to bounce back tomorrow, Monday, March 14 when it meets Mt. Aloysius at 3:00 p.m. at Crosley Field.