SCRANTON, Pa. – The Juniata baseball team defeated Scranton 10-4 in the series finale Sunday afternoon.
The Eagles wasted no time and went up 7-0 after just two innings.
In the top of the second, Isaac Kline (Everett, Pa. / Bedford) reached on an error by the second baseman. Chris Schreder (Lititz, Pa. / Lancaster Catholic) then singled to third, advancing Kline to second. Chris Sinisi (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona Area) hit a sacrifice bunt to bring in Kline and reached on a throwing error. Devyn Carper (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona Area) then singled out to right field to bring in Sinisi. With Zach Tobash (Macungie, Pa. / Allentown Central Catholic) at the plate, Carper stole second and advanced to third on a fielding error by the shortstop. Tobash continued the Eagles hot streak with a double out to centerfield to bring in Carper.
Josh Keszczyk (Boyertown, Pa. / Boyertown Area) hit a sacrifice bunt to bring in Tobash and then reached first on a throwing error. Nick Stubbs (Hagerstown, Md. / South Hagerstown) followed with a sacrifice bunt to move Keszczyk to second. A single up the middle from Anthony Lombardo (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona Area) scored Keszczyk. Lombardo advanced to second on the play and would steal third before he would come home on an RBI-single from Joe Klusman (Wilmington, Del. / St. Elizabeth). A pitching change would get the Royals out of the inning with the Eagles up 7-0.
In the top of the fourth, Stubbs drew a walk before a double from Lombardo advanced him to third and a throwing error brought him home. JC finished up the inning with an 8-0 lead.
Kline and the Juniata defense would keep Scranton off the board until the bottom of the seventh when a pair of errors would result in three runs for the Royals. Hunter Price (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon Area) relieved Kline on the mound with two outs in the seventh and bases loaded. A fly out to Stubbs would end the inning with Juniata up 8-3.
In the top of the ninth, Stubbs led off with a double out to left field. Another Royals error would bring Lombardo to first and advance Stubbs to third. Klusman followed with a sacrifice fly to bring in Stubbs. With Kline at the plate, Lombardo stole second before a double from Schreder brought him home. Juniata went on to win by a final score of 10-4 to earn their fourth Landmark Conference victory of the season.
Kline earned his first collegiate win on the mound, tossing 6.2 innings, striking out five batters and giving up zero earned runs. Price went 2.1 innings on the mound, struck out one and gave up just two hits.
Schreder led the offense, going 3-for-5 at the plate with one RBI. Klusman followed with 2RBI.
Juniata returns to action Tues. April 19 for a single game on the road against Penn College. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
