Elizabethtown Tops Crusaders in Midweek Matchup
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The Susquehanna baseball team dropped
a 14-7 decision at Elizabethtown on Wednesday afternoon. Of the 14
runs, just four were earned, however, as five SU errors factored
into the loss.
Starter Matt Lottes (Muttontown, N.Y./Long Island
Lutheran) went 3.1 innings gave up six runs, only four of
which were earned, while walking only one batter. Five relief
pitchers combined to toss the final 4.2 innings and none of the
nine runs scored during that span were earned.
At the plate, Susquehanna (6-13) managed just seven hits with two
from first baseman Nick Ferlise (Toms River, N.J./Toms
River North), who also drove in two runs and scored
another. Ken Kayama [Koto-Ku, Japan/Solebury
(Pa.)] knocked in three of SU’s seven runs with a
triple, his lone hit in the game as he entered as a pinch hitter in
the seventh inning.
Nick Testo (Mount Airy, Md.) singled home the
first run of the ballgame in the Crusaders’ half of the
second inning and they added another solo run in the third on a
Ferlise RBI double to go up 2-0.
Elizabethtown (7-9) got back one of those runs in the third before
breaking through for five runs in the fourth. The Blue Jays got
those runs courtesy of three hits and two SU errors with the big
hit coming off the bat of Steve Motika, whose bases-loaded double
scored three runs to quickly make it 6-2.
The Crusaders tacked on a run in the fifth on a
Ferlise RBI groundout but then gave up five more
runs in the sixth on six hits and two more errors as Elizabethtown
took an 11-3 lead.
SU finally broke through for a big inning of its own with four
runs in the seventh. Erik Tuomisto (Northumberland,
Pa./Shikellamy/Pitt.-Johnstown) entered the game as a
pinch hitter and promptly hit a leadoff home run to make it 10-4.
Kayama then came up with the bases loaded to send
home three SU runners and cut Elizabethtown’s lead to four
(11-7).
Unfortunately, the Blue Jays responded with a three-run seventh
and shut down the Crusaders in the eighth and ninth innings.
Next games: Saturday, April 2 at Scranton – 1 p.m.
(DH)
