Scranton Lions Sweep Wilkes-Barre

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

In a Sunday road matinee, the visiting Penn State Scranton Lions baseball squad won both ends of their doubleheader against local conference rival Penn State Wilkes-Barre by a close 11-9 margin in game one and a dominant 17-2 triumph in the nightcap. Scranton was victorious in all four contests against Wilkes-Barre this weekend, after Friday's home doubleheader sweep by the scores of 11-1 and 13-1 respectively. With these crucial triumphs, the Lions from Scranton are now red hot on a four game winning streak and improve their overall record to 11-16 and are now 5-7 in their all-important league play schedule.

In the opening contest, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre were all deadlocked at 6-6 heading into the seventh and final frame, before the road warrior Lions put up a big five spot in the top half of the inning and the home squad could only muster three runs, as Scranton captured the two run victory by game's end. Both team's had nine hits apiece in the battle.

The dynamic sophomore duo of right fielder Donald Healey and left fielder Guy Mushow set the pace for Scranton's offensive explosion with their stellar multi-hit performances in the opener. Healey went 2-4 at the plate, cranking a nice double, drew a walk, tallied a run, and had a game-high three RBI. Mushow also went a stalwart 2-4 at the dish, crushing a home run, scored twice, and drove home a pair of runs. The Lions other five hits in the ball game came off the bats of junior first baseman Zach Benson who was 1-2, hammering a homer, walked twice, scored a run, and had two RBI, fellow junior, third baseman Mike DeWolfe who was 1-4, stole a base, and scored a hat trick of runs, freshman designtated hitter Logan Moss who went 1-3, walked a couple of times, and scored two runs, freshman center fielder Jake Sullivan was 1-4 at the dish, and finally, sophomore catcher Thomas McIntyre went 1-3, drilling a double, walked once, scored a run, and added an RBI for good measure.

Meanwhile, Wilkes-Barre had a trio of players lead the way offensively with impressive multi-hit showings, as right fielder Jay Shemanski was 2-4, hit a homer and a double, scored twice, and knocked in a pair, center fielder Jakob Baltrusaitis went 2-3, also smashed a home run and a double, drew a walk, stole a base, scored a hat trick of runs, and had a couple of RBI, and last but certainly not least, left fielder Walter Ninotti was 2-4 at the dish, with a double, swiped a bag, reached base once via the walk, tallied a run, and had two RBI in the showdown.

On the pitching side of things, Scranton started freshman righty Keegan Litts on the mound and he tossed the first five innings, allowing five earned runs, five hits, a trio of walks, and fanned five batters on the day. Sophomore right-hander John Paffenroth came in relief out of the bullpen and earned the win by pitching the game's final two innings, giving up three earned runs, three base hits, walked a batter, and struck out three Wilkes-Barre hitters in his appearance. Meanwhile, Wilkes-Barre started Chris Coyne on the bump who threw 4 and 2/3 innings, allowing a pair of earned runs, a quartet of hits, four bases on balls, and fanned four Scranton hitters. Michael Volker took the loss in relief tossing 1 2/3 innings, giving up a couple of earned runs, two hits, and walked a pair. Kevin Rivera came in to pitch next and he threw 1/3 of an inning, allowing one earned run, a trio of hits, and walked one. Lastly, Ethan Bechel wrapped up the festivities on the mound by throwing the final 1/3 of an inning, giving up no runs or hits, and walked just one lone batter.

In the game two nightcap, Scranton scored early and often as they cruised to their dominant 15 run road triumph. The Lions tallied a run in the top half of the second inning, a whopping 11 runs in the third, a hat trick spot in the fourth, and finished things up with a pair of runs in the fifth and final frame. Wilkes-Barre recorded their two runs in the contest with one in the bottom half of the first inning and one more in the third. Scranton out hit their opponent by a commanding 12-6 margin during the festivities.

Scranton was led on offense by Moss and Litts who each had top notch multi-hit performances in game two. Moss went a flawless 3-3 at the dish, with a big double, walked once, scored three times, and knocked in a pair. Litts was a near perfect 4-5 at the plate, smashing a double and stealing a base, tallying a trio of runs, and had a game-high four RBI in the matchup. The Lions other hits came off the bats of freshman second baseman Tyler Kopec, fellow freshman, catcher Luke Kirkey, sophomore shortstop Alex Pagotto, freshman third baseman Jake Leonori, and freshman Thomas Milutinovic who each had a hit apiece in the ball game.

Meanwhile, Wilkes-Barre had two players with multi-hit showings in the nightcap, as their designated hitter Shemanski led the way with a perfect 2-2 outing, crushing another home run, tallied a run, and had two RBI, and their center fielder Baltrusaitis was 2-3 at the dish and smacked a double. The other two hits for the hometown Lions came off the bats of their second baseman Enai Fernandez who went 1-2, with a run, and a walk, and their catcher Andrew Mentzer who also went 1-2 at the plate.

On the pitching side of things, Scranton's right-handed hurler DeWolfe went the distance on the mound and earned the victory, throwing a complete game of five innings, allowing just a pair of earned runs, six hits, walked only one, and fanned six batters in his commanding performance. Meanwhile, Wilkes-Barre started Zachary Chamberlain on the bump and he took the loss, tossing the first two innings of the game, giving up seven earned runs, seven hits, walked a trio, and struck out a couple of hitters in his outing. Bechel came in relief and threw two innings, allowing three earned runs, three base hits, and walked a couple. Lastly, Cody Belles wrapped up the game by throwing the final inning, giving up two unearned runs, two hits, and walked one.

Now third-year head coach Collin Ferguson and his 11-16 Penn State Scranton Lions baseball team will look to continue their victorious ways and extend their impressive four game winning streak when they host non-conference foe Valley Forge for a single nine inning contest this Tuesday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for a 3:30pm start time.