WASHINGTON, D.C. - 15th-ranked Catholic baseball earned a pair of victories over Susquehanna on Sunday afternoon to improve to 14-2 on the year and 2-0 in Landmark Conference play. The Cardinals walked off the River Hawks in game one, winning 6-5 before the bats came out in full force in a 15-7 game two victory. 

GAME ONE: Catholic 6-5 Susquehanna

The Cardinals took game one of the doubleheader in dramatic fashion, coming back from multiple deficits throughout to win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. 

Mitchel Johnson played hero, pushing a fly ball out to right field that was deep enough to score freshman Jack Elwell on a walk-off sacrifice fly.

Cardinal ace Tucker Alch started on the mound, throwing 103 pitches in the no-decision. He scattered 11 hits over eight innings of work, allowing five total runs (four earned). He fanned nine River Hawks while throwing over 80 strikes.

Neither team was able to find a breakthrough in the first three innings of play. However, in the top of the fourth, a J.P. Yore double scored two for Susquehanna and pushed the River Hawks ahead.

The Cardinals immediately got one back in the bottom of the inning when a Matthew Fisher fielder's choice pushed Ben Nardi, who reached on a lead-off walk, across.

After Susquehanna made it 3-1 in the top of the fifth, Catholic equalized in the bottom of the sixth inning. Again after a Nardi lead-off walk, Johnson smashed a double to straight-away center field to bring the Cardinals within one. Three batters later, a Fisher sacrifice fly tied the game.

Both teams exchanged runs in the seventh before Susquehanna again pushed ahead in the top of the eighth. After Lance Book singled with one out, he stole second and advanced to third on a Tony Rossi base knock. Rossi then stole second, and as Fisher attempted to nab him at second, the catcher fired the ball into the outfield, allowing Book to give the Rivers Hawks the 5-4 lead.

Alch then locked in and struck out the next two batters to end his day strongly and get his team back into the dugout, down one.

Although the Cardinals were unable to push one across in the bottom of the eighth, the rally began in the ninth. After Dante Pozzi worked a one-out walk off of closer Vincent Mariella, Joe Marini singled through the right side to push Pozzi into scoring position.

Elwell then pinch-ran for Marini, representing the game-winning run on first base. Nardi followed Marini with a single, scoring Pozzi and allowing Elwell to advance to third base on the throw before Johnson finished off the comeback.

Camden Mounts earned his second win of the season for Catholic after holding the River Hawks scoreless in the top of the ninth. Alch remains 3-0 on the year.

GAME TWO: Catholic 15-7 Susquehanna

The Catholic offense fired on all cylinders in game two as the Cardinals scored at least one run in every inning of the 15-7 win. The Cardinals plated six runs before the River Hawks put a crooked number up on the scoreboard. 

Catholic starter Cody Bosak retired the side in the first before the offense plated three in the first. Pozzi led off the game with a towering blast to left, putting Catholic up 1-0 immediately. Marini made it back-to-back homers and the Cardinals were off and rolling. Nardi drew a walk and Johnson launched a double to left center to score Nardi and make it 3-0. 

In the second, Zach Burton drove in Derek Zelesnick to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead after Zelesnick drew a lead-off walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Two more runs crossed in the third as Michael Napolitano hit a one-out triple to right center and scored on an RBI single off the bat of Justin McCarthy. McCarthy stole second and then scored on another RBI single from Burton to make it 6-0. 

Susquehanna finally got to Bosak in the fourth, scoring five runs on five hits with an error mixed in. Book, Rossi, and Thomas Romanelli each hit RBI singles before Yore added an RBI double to close the gap to 6-5. 

Napolitano extended Catholic's lead to two in the bottom of the fourth, driving in Nardi with an RBI single through the left side. Nardi reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the inning and moved up to second on a Lucas Malave single. 

Will Hanson came on to pitch for Bosak to start the fifth, but allowed a single and two walks before Book lined into a double play. Hanson walked Rossi to re-load the bases and Ross Natoli went back to the bullpen, bringing on Jake Lynes. Lynes allowed one of Hanson's runs to score with a bases-loaded walk, but got a ground ball from Yore to end the inning with a 7-6 Catholic lead. Pozzi hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the inning to put the Cardinals ahead 9-6.

Napolitano struck again for the Cardinals in the sixth, roping an RBI double to score Malave and push the Catholic lead to four runs. Malave drew a one-out walk and moved up on a failed pickoff attempt before scoring the eighth run of the game for the Cards. 

Burton added another RBI to his tally in the seventh, leading off the inning with a solo shot to left, his second homer of the year, to give Catholic an 11-6 advantage. 

Finally, the Cardinals plated three more runs in the eighth, crushing any hopes of a River Hawks comeback. Malave led off the inning with another Cardinal homer to make it a 12-6 game before Catholic loaded the bases and Marini unloaded them with a three-run double. 

Pozzi and Marini combined for four hits, four runs, three homers, and seven RBI at the top of the Catholic order. Napolitano and Burton each had three hits for the Cardinals, driving in a combined five runs. 

Catholic and Susquehanna will finish up the series tomorrow afternoon at 12 p.m., making up Saturday's postponed contest.