WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic University baseball team opened Landmark Conference play by scoring 32 runs in a doubleheader against Drew, taking both games on Saturday at Talbot Field. 

The Cardinals (12-5, 2-0 LC) have now won eight in a row and 10 of their last 11 games. The hot streak has been ignited in the batter's box and on the base paths, a trend that continued today, as they registered 32 hits and stole 12 bases over the course of the two games.

Game 1: Catholic 18, Drew 3

Catholic scored four in the first and would never look back as it led wire-to-wire in a convincing win over Drew (2-11, 0-2 LC). Graduate student Billy Duke led the way, going     2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, a game-high four RBIs and one run scored.

It was Duke's double down the right field line that got things going for the Cardinals, as he brought freshman Dante Pozzi and junior Zach Burton home after they led off the game with back-to-back walks. Senior Matt Tesoriero followed by smashing a two-run home run over the left-center field wall, nearly hitting the scoreboard.

Catholic had another big inning in the fourth, which again started with back-to-back walks. After Pozzi and junior Derek Zelesnick walked and executed a double steal to advance into scoring position, junior Ben Nardi walked to load the bases. Senior Peter Giombetti then singled to left-center field to drive in two. Nardi would then score on a wild pitch before Giombetti would come home on an error, pushing the Cardinal lead to 10-2.

Throughout the game, Catholic would continue to add runs to the scoreboard in a blistering fashion, scoring a run in every inning in which it batted.

Freshmen Joe Marini, Justin McCarthy and Mitchel Johnson all pinch hit and each contributed one RBI as part of the Cardinal three-run seventh.

Junior Tucker Alch (3-1) claimed his third win of the season, starting the game and pitching 6.0 innings. The Cardinal ace pounded the zone all day, throwing greater than 75 percent of his 86 pitches for strikes. He allowed just three runs, only two earned, on seven hits, while striking out nine. 

Junior Brendan Martin, freshman Danny Prior and senior Nick Dziuba were impressive in relief, all pitching 1.0 inning of work each and not allowing any hits between the three of them. Martin and Dziuba struck out two respectively. 

Diversity of contribution was the theme, as 14 different players recorded a hit and 10 different players had at least one RBI.

Game 2: Catholic 14, Drew 10

It was a similar story to the first game in the sense that Catholic immediately took the lead with four runs in the first. With the bases loaded and one out, a Duke single to right field plated Pozzi and Nardi, who had both walked. Tesoriero batted next and hit a double to the left-center-field gap, plating Duke and Giombetti to open up the lead. 

The Cardinals added one in the second and two in the third to chase Ranger starter Kenny Yonker after just 3.0 innings. Nardi's single up the middle scored Burton in the second, while a triple from senior Tommy Antonucci drove in Tesoriero and allowed freshman Matthew Fisher to push Tesoriero across with a single immediately after. 

Drew cut into the Cardinal lead in the top of the fourth, plating six off of senior Jack Zaffiro. The starting pitcher hadn't allowed a hit through the first three innings, but was forced to exit during the fourth. He pitched 3.1 innings, allowing the six runs, only three earned, walking two and striking out four. 

After the Rangers climbed back to make it 7-6, Catholic pushed five across in the bottom of the fifth to reestablish its commanding position.

The entire rally came with two outs, as Zelesnick drew a walk to get things started. He then went first to third on a Pozzi single, and after Pozzi stole second, a Burton double off the wall in center field plated both Zelesnick and Pozzi. Nardi followed immediately with a double down the right-field line, scoring Burton. Giombetti then followed with his team-leading eighth home run of the season, this one a lined shot over the left-field wall that came off of what appeared to not even be a full swing. This display of pure power boosted the score to 12-6.

Drew was able to chip away slightly down the stretch, scoring one in the sixth and two in the seventh. Catholic scored two of their own in the bottom of the sixth, when a Fisher single scored Antonucci and Fisher was driven in by a Pozzi double.

With the score 14-9, freshman Lucky Perrotto entered the game to pitch. He faced a scare in the ninth when three singles loaded the bases with one out. After securing a strike out for the second out of the inning, an infield single scored one and kept the bases loaded, bringing the tying run to the plate. Perrotto then struck out the next batter to secure the victory for the Cardinals. 

In a team-high six appearances, this is the first run Perrotto has allowed. In 13.1 bullpen innings, he has allowed just seven hits and only walked four, while striking out 13. He has a 3-0 record on the season and boasts a staggering 0.67 ERA. 

Senior Skylar McLean earned his first win of the season as the longman, pitching 3.2 innings, allowing three runs and striking out two. 

Eight Catholic players had at least one RBI, six players registered multiple RBIs and the team stole six bases in total during game two.

The Cardinals have now scored 10 or more runs in each of their last four games, and five of their last six. Catholic are bettering opponents by a cumulative score of 78-27 during this six game span.

The Cardinals look to sweep Drew in their first Landmark Conference series of the season and extend their win streak to nine tomorrow, when they host the Rangers at Talbot Field. First pitch is scheduled for noon.