HUNTINGDON, PA – The Juniata baseball team (6-17, 2-13 Landmark) was swept in a three-game series by Scranton (13-11, 10-5 Landmark) Sunday afternoon at the Langdon-Goodale Field.
The Royals took a seven-run lead on the Eagles before Juniata could put runs on the board. The Eagles finished the game with 16 hits but left 12 runners on base in their 6-17 loss to Scranton.
Anthony Lombardo (Altoona, PA / Altoona Area) led Juniata with four hits in five plate appearances. Jacob Terry (Denver, PA / Cocalico HS) had three hits, while Nick Stubbs (Hagerstown, MD / South Hagerstown), Joe Klusman (Wilmington, DE / St. Elizabeth) and Cody Krepps (Tyrone, PA / Bellwood-Antis) had two.
Stubbs was solid on both offense and defense for the Eagles. Scranton base-runners were cautious of making a move for another base if the ball went out to right field because Stubbs was there to make the play.
In the bottom of the fifth, Lombardo got things started for Juniata. He hit an RBI-single to center, bringing in Stubbs. Chris Schreder (Litiz, PA / Landcaster Catholic) hit a 2-RBI-single in the sixth to take a dent out of the Royals' lead.
Juniata picked up another pair of runs in the seventh. Tyler Morris (Ellicott City, MD / Centennial) scored an unearned run then Krepps scored on an RBI-single by Terry. Krepps picked up an RBI-double out to left in the eighth, bringing in Lombardo but the Eagles' rally would end there.
Like Saturday's doubleheader, Scranton's offense came up big in two innings. They put up four runs in the fourth and six runs in the eighth. The Royals totaled 20 hits. Like Juniata, they also left a significant amount of runners on base (17).
Caleb Pepperday (Phillipsburg, PA / Phillipsburg-Osceola) was the starting pitcher for Juniata. Pepperday stayed in through four innings and struck out three batters. The Eagles would bring in four other pitchers after Pepperday left the mound in hopes of shutting down the Royals' offense.
The Eagles head to Mt. Aloysius next for a doubleheader on Tuesday, April, 14. Their next Landmark game is against Moravian on Saturday, April 18. Juniata will start a three-game series against Moravian with a doubleheader Saturday and one game on Sunday, April 19.
