Elizabethtown College had another triple-game weekend at home against Landmark Conference opponent Juniata College. Heading into the matchup, the Blue Jays were holding onto a five-game win streak, beating Moravian 7-1 in their last matchup, led by a grand slam by junior outfielder Mason Woolwine. Firmly sitting in second place in conference standings, Etown hoped to gain some ground on the conference leader Wilkes University and cement themselves in a good playoff position.
Sophomore pitcher Joey Smith took the mound for game one. Etown took an early lead with sophomore catcher Tommy Kanakos capitalizing off a wild pitch to score the first run of the game in the second inning. Woolwine continued to tack on runs for the Blue Jays in the third inning, crushing a pitch from Juniata onto the left-field hill, earning his third home run of the season and giving Etown a 2-0 lead. Juniata responded to Etown well, with their junior catcher Jace Irvin doing the same thing as Woolwine and took a pitch by Smith deep for a solo home run in the fourth inning.
The Eagles continued to tack on runs in the sixth inning after two RBI doubles and a wild pitch scored three for Juniata, giving them their first lead of the game and jumping out to a 4-2 score. In the bottom of the sixth, Etown found their stride and retook the lead from the Eagles off a two-RBI double from junior second basemen Alex Perrin, a two-RBI single by Woolwine, a three-RBI double by senior first basemen RJ Agriss and a single by first-year outfielder Sawyer Martin capping off a seven-run sixth inning. Etown continued to add on runs in the seventh, with junior shortstop David Woolley hitting an RBI single and Martin hitting a sacrifice fly, scoring Woolwine, and bringing the lead to 13-4. Juniata wasn’t done yet, scoring four runs in the eighth inning to stay alive, off three singles and a double.
Etown got out of the jam in the eighth, stranding Juniata with the bases loaded, holding their lead at 13-8. Junior pitcher Justin Maraccinni shutdown the Eagles in the ninth, striking out two and giving Etown their first win of the afternoon. Woolwine led the charge for the Blue Jays, batting 2-for-4 with three runs, three RBIs and two walks. Sophomore pitcher Caeden Schulte earned the win in the matchup, moving his record to 3-0 on the season.
In game two, Juniata got out to a hot start, scoring two in the top of the first after their first three batters were able to get on base. Sophomore pitcher Logan Burns was able to hold on, striking out two batters to stop the scoring surge in the first inning. Etown’s bats came alive in the second inning, bringing in six runs and batting around the order with RBI hits from Perrin, Woolwine, Martin and Agriss. The Blue Jays added another run in the fourth inning after Agriss added another double, scoring Martin from second base. Etown tacked on another run as sophomore catcher Joe Limongelli stole home on the double steal attempt with Perrin, who was caught in the rundown. Juniata started to pull back into the game, hitting three singles in the sixth to shrink the deficit to five runs. The Blue Jays answered in the bottom of the sixth, as Agriss knocked in his third double of the game and Limongelli singled to left field, scoring three more to push the lead to 11-3. The Eagles scored in the eighth off an RBI single and again in the ninth off an RBI walk and an RBI single, however, it wasn’t enough as Etown defeated Juniata with a final score of 11-6. Agriss led the Blue Jays in the win, tallying three doubles, batting 3-for-4 with a run and four RBIs. Burns captured his third win of the season after pitching six innings with three strikeouts, two walks and three earned runs off six hits.
Heading into the game on Sunday, Mason Woolwine sat at 99 career hits, and the fans, dugout and even himself knew it, seemingly upset at himself after three strikeouts in the final game of the doubleheader. Everybody at Kevin Scott Boyd Memorial Stadium felt the pressure and the chance at a career milestone, ready to be shattered by a single base hit.
Senior pitcher Kyle Mulville got the mound for the Sunday start in the final game against Juniata. Both pitchers did a good job shutting down both sides through the first three innings of the game. Woolley got things started for Etown in the third, knocking an RBI triple over the head of Juniata’s center fielder. Woolley scored on a wild pitch after junior utility Quinten Perilli was walked, scoring the first two runs of the game. In a bad throw to first on a pickoff attempt, Martin was able to advance to second and Perilli reached home safely, giving Etown a three-run lead in the third inning. Pitching was the name of the game as Juniata had trouble getting hits against Mulville through his entire tenure on the mound. In the fifth inning, as Woolwine took his third at-bat of the game after flying out and striking out the first two times around, he took one swing of the bat and knocked his 100th hit up the middle to the roar of the crowd, finally breaking the pressure that had built for this moment. Martin brought Woolwine home off a fielder’s choice to expand the lead to 4-0. Woolwine reached base again in the sixth inning of an error by the right fielder, scoring junior third baseman Alex McClain and first-year outfielder Nick Fiorini. Juniata got their first runs off the game off a double into the gap in the center field, scoring two runs and shrinking the lead to four. Etown continued to pour on the runs, with Martin scoring off a wild pitch in the seventh. Perilli brought two home off a two-RBI single in the eighth, Martin hit an RBI single in the eighth, Kanakos racked in an RBI off a sacrifice fly and to finish the game on a run rule, pinch-hitter first-year Jake Ruple drove in Martin off an RBI single to seal the sweep as Etown won 12-2.
To cap off their weekend, the Blue Jays expanded their winning streak to eight games, placing second in the Landmark Conference with a record of 11-5. Etown will be on a road stretch for the next few games, however, they will be back at home on April 21 against York College and will play their final Landmark triple-game weekend against Drew University for senior day on April 26 and April 27.
