WASHINGTON, D.C. - No. 15 Catholic baseball won its fifth straight contest on Monday afternoon, defeating Landmark Conference foe Susquehanna in dramatic fashion. For the second time in three contests versus the River Hawks, the Cardinals walked it off, this time with sophomore catcher Matthew Fisher plating a pair of runs with a game-winning double. 

In a back-and-forth game that saw the River Hawks take the lead in the top of the eighth inning, Catholic showed the resilience it has all year, completing its fourth walk-off win of the 2023 season. 

Trailing 9-8 in the bottom of the ninth, Ben Nardi reached first on an error to open the frame. Mitchel Johnson ripped a single to center, putting a pair of runners on base for Lucas Malave. Susquehanna's Adam Stuck retired Malave, but up to the plate stepped Fisher. The sophomore catcher laced a double to left-center field, past a diving Sean McCulloch. Nardi and pinch-runner Mark Villanueva came around to score and the Cardinals were 10-9 winners. 

Early on in the contest, the Catholic bats remained hot and a few River Hawk defensive miscues allowed the Cardinals to score six runs in the first five innings to take a 6-2 lead. Dante Pozzi and Joe Marini drew back-to-back walks to open up the bottom of the first, eventually scoring on a single play with a pair of Susquehanna errors. 

The Cardinals added two more to the tally in the third inning as Malave blasted a two-run homer, scoring Nardi who reached on a leadoff walk, to give starting pitcher Danny Fitzgerald a 4-1 advantage. The River Hawks made it 4-2 with an RBI groundout in the top of the fifth, but another Catholic homer extended the lead to 6-2. This time it was Johnson who hit a shot to left, once again scoring Nardi who singled earlier in the inning. 

Both teams traded runs in the sixth inning as Thomas Romanelli tripled off of Catholic reliever Cormac Terry before scoring on an error. In the bottom of the inning, Marini joined the homer party with a solo shot, his team-high seventh of the season to make it 7-3. 

The River Hawks got within a run in the seventh inning as Jack Cahill hit a three-run homer, his second of the game, before being ejected by home plate umpire Don O'Shea. 

Catholic was held scoreless in the seventh before the River Hawks pushed three runs across in the eighth to take the lead. Tony Rossi doubled to lead off the inning, knocking Terry out of the game in favor of left-hander Camden Mounts. Mounts issued a walk before inducing a ground ball to second, but Derek Zelesnick threw it away and allowed a run to score, tying the game at 7-7. Mounts retired the next batter before hitting Dylan Heyduk to load the bases back up with one out. 

Catholic head coach Ross Natoli returned to the bullpen for senior Brendan Martin. Martin got McCulloch to fly out, but Romanelli scored on the sacrifice fly to give Susquehanna an 8-7 lead. Thomas Andersen replaced the ejected Cahill and singled to center, scoring J.P. Yore, but Heyduk was thrown out trying to reach third, ending the inning with the River Hawks leading 9-7. 

Zach Burton hit the Cardinals' fourth home run of the game, a solo shot with one out in the bottom of the eighth, to make it a 9-8 game entering the ninth. Martin worked his way through a scoreless ninth to set the Cardinals up for the walk-off winner. Martin improves to 3-0 on the season.

STATS OF NOTE

• Fisher and Johnson each had multi-hit games for the Cardinals. Fisher smacked a pair of doubles to give him six extra-base hits on the season. With two hits on the day, Johnson is hitting .375 with 10 extra-base hits and 17 RBI. 
• Marini's seventh home run gives him 12 extra-base hits and 23 RBI for the season, both leading Catholic. Marini is slugging .881 which would rank just outside the top 20 nationally. 
• Nardi added a hit and three runs in today's contest, extending his hitting streak to 19 games, dating back to last year's Super Regional. 
• Martin has made a team-high eight appearances in 2023. The senior has tossed 10.1 innings, allowing just one earned run, while earning three wins and picking up two saves. 

Catholic will host Johns Hopkins on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. for a non-conference tilt between two top-15 teams. Wednesday night's contest will feature a light dedication and a pregame reception up at the Bond Family Pavilion at Carlini Field.