WASHINGTON, D.C. - Catholic outscored Juniata 22-7 across Saturday's doubleheader to open Landmark Conference play with a record of 2-0. The Cardinals have now won five straight dating back to Sunday.
GAME 1 - Catholic 9, Juniata 5
Despite falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, Catholic rebounded to defeat Juniata 9-5 in game one of Saturday's Landmark Conference doubleheader.
Catholic took a 6-2 lead into the sixth inning before the Eagles started to chip away, pulling within a run in the top of the seventh.
Senior Jesse Lacefield made sure the gap grew, smacking a two-run shot over the right field fence to push Catholic's lead to 8-5. Sammy Burman tacked on the final run with an RBI single in the eighth inning as Catholic closed out a 9-5 win.
The Eagles jumped on Catholic starter Eddie Kaftan, getting a lead-off single from Dakotah Snyder before Corey Daniels jumped on a 1-1 pitch and drove it over the fence in left-center to make it 2-0 Juniata.
Kaftan settled in, pitching into the sixth inning before giving way to Lucky Perrotto. He earned his third win of the season and struck out four in 5.1 innings.
Down 2-0, Catholic pushed one across in the bottom of the second after Steve Thomas led things off with a single to right. Mitchel Johnson lined one into center, moving Thomas up to third after a misplay by the center fielder. Logan Eilbacher brought home the Cardinals first run with an RBI ground out to third.
The Cardinals tied the game in the bottom of the third thanks to a lead-off double from graduate Derek Zelesnick. Dante Pozzi walked and both advanced on a double steal. After Zach Burton reached on a dropped strike three, Joe Marini hit into a double play, but it brought Zelesnick home to tie the game.
Ross Natoli's team took the lead in the bottom of the fourth, scoring two runs on one hit. Burman drew a one-out walk leading to an Eilbacher single. With runners on first and second, Lacefield drew a free pass, loading the bases for Zelesnick. A wild pitch brought home Burman to give Catholic the lead before Pozzi drew a walk to bring home Eilbacher.
Thomas once again started things off in the bottom of the fifth, drawing a walk to force a pitching change. Johnson drew a walk as well to put two runners on for Burman. Burman struck out, but both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. With two outs, Lacefield came in clutch, driving in two runs with a single to the right side.
Juniata scored two runs in the sixth and one in the seventh before Lacefield's two-run shot in the bottom half of the inning pushed things back in Catholic's direction.
Johnson, Burman, and Lacefield each had two hits on the day while Lacefield drove in four runs for Catholic. Pozzi drew three walks, moving into third place all-time in Landmark Conference history with 94.
Game 2 - Catholic 13, Juniata 2 (7)
Once again, Catholic fell behind early as Juniata's Corey Daniels hit a first-inning home run, but once again the Cardinals had the answer, scoring 13 unanswered runs before allowing a final unearned run in the seventh inning. Today marked Catholic's first mercy rule victory in the Landmark Conference as the rule was put into play for the 2023-24 season.
The Cardinals totaled 12 hits with four guys recording multi-hit days. Half of those 12 hits went for extra bases while half of the six extra-base hits left the yard. Pozzi, Burton, and Johnson all went deep in game two of the doubleheader.
Making his first career start as a Cardinal,
Roman Tozzi was tremendous, going 6.0 innings and allowing just one run to earn the win. The southpaw struck out five and has now earned a win or a save in three of his four outings.
Catholic didn't trail for long, tying the game in the bottom of the first as Marini looped an RBI single out to right center to score Pozzi. After Thomas was retired, Johnson stepped up and crushed a big fly to dead center, putting Catholic ahead 4-1 with his third homer of the season.
Both pitchers settled in until Catholic struck once more in the fourth. Pozzi was hit by the first pitch of the inning to set up Burton with a base runner. The graduate first baseman unloaded on a 2-1 pitch, crushing a two-run shot over the scoreboard in left to push Catholic ahead by five runs.
A seven-run fifth inning put the finishing touches on the ballgame while ending Ethan Pfeffer's time on the mound for Juniata. Zelesnick stepped up to the dish with two on and one away and drove in the Cardinals' seventh run of the game with a single to left field. Next, it was Pozzi's turn to leave the yard as he smacked a three-run shot to left, increasing Catholic's lead to 10-1. After the pitching change, Burton and Marini both singled and moved up a base on a failed pick-off attempt to second. Thomas doubled on a big hop over third base to score the pair, making it 12-1. Burman added the final run of the game with a looping single to right, scoring Thomas.
With four homers today, Catholic now has 18 homers in 13 games this season. Five different players have multiple while Johnson and Lacefield have three apiece. Six different Cardinals have driven in between 10 and 13 runs in 2024 with Burman leading the way.
First pitch for the final game of the series versus Juniata is set for 12 p.m.
