The Elizabethtown College men’s baseball team played the St. John Fisher University Cardinals in a doubleheader this past weekend on Saturday, March 18 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The 8-4 Blue Jays swept the doubleheader, winning the opening game 4-0 and the second 8-5. This moves the team to a strong 9-4 on the season.
The first game of the doubleheader was a good one for Blue Jays pitching. The staff pitched a shutout, allowing just five batters to reach base on four hits and one walk in a 4-0 win. Senior starting pitcher Nicholas Ortega took the hill and went seven strong innings, sitting eight batters down on strikes while walking none, earning his second win of the young season. In each of the first two innings, a runner was able to reach third base for St. John Fisher, but each time Ortega was able to buckle down and leave the runners stranded. Senior pitcher and first baseman Zach Silfies came in for relief in the eighth inning and kept the Cardinals hitters at bay with three strikeouts. He allowed just one runner to reach base on a walk.
The bats came alive in the third inning for Etown. The top of the order read Cardinals’ senior starter Connor McHugh well with two straight hits to start the inning. Then, the team hung a crooked number on the scoreboard off a three-run bomb from senior outfielder and pitcher Ben Watson. Watson had himself a day from the two spot in the lineup, as he finished the game with three hits in four trips to the plate, including two extra-base hits. Etown would tack on an extra insurance run in the fifth inning thanks to a wild inside-the-park home run from first-year utilityman and pitcher Quinten Perilli. That was all the Jays needed, as they headed into the second game of the doubleheader on a high note.
Game two of the day was a much higher-scoring affair. Runs were crossing the plate left and right, but by the end, Etown had taken a three-run lead into the ninth inning where they shut things down. Sophomore Kyle Mulville started on the bump and went four innings for the Blue Jays. Although he had a shaky start, he kept Etown in it early. In the fifth, sophomore pitcher Greg Zerbe served five innings in relief and took the win, his second of the year. He allowed two runs on five hits but struck out five in the process and clutched things up in the ninth holding the Cardinals to a goose egg on the scoreboard.
The Blue Jays’ bats were scorching hot in this one. The team finished with eight runs on 11 hits. Eight different batters tallied hits with graduate student infielder Robbie Bertucio, Watson and Perilli leading the way with two each. One of Perili’s hits included a clutch two-run homer that put Etown back on top in the fifth inning. Etown was blessed with some luck though. Etown’s first run of the day scored off a balk from Cardinals’ first-year pitcher Benjamin Huckans. The Cardinals also committed three errors throughout the afternoon, one resulting in an unearned run for Etown.
The Blue Jays will continue their home stretch with yet another doubleheader on Saturday. This one will be a Landmark Conference game against the Juniata College Eagles on March 25 at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. With a great deal of momentum, the Blue Jays will look to continue their winning ways this upcoming weekend.
