SCRANTON, Pa. — In a rematch of the regular season finale one week ago, the Catholic University baseball team fell to Scranton, 25-5, in the first round of the Landmark Conference Tournament on Friday night.

After weather and extra innings in the other first-round game, the Royals and Cardinals finally got underway over an hour later than planned. Neither team struggled to find their offense, however, as at least one run was scored in eight og the nine innings. 

Ace Roman Tozzi started on the bump for the Cardinals and produced a clean first inning. Then Catholic, playing as the home team on Scranton's field due its owning of the higher seed, hung three on the Royals in the bottom of the frame.

After Zach Burton drew a one-out walk, Sammy Burman drove a double down the left-field line to push Burton to third base and put two runners in scoring position. Logan Eilbacher was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Mitchel Johnson drew a walk to earn an RBI and force Burton across. Then, Jesse Lacefield came through with a single to plate Burman and Eilbacher.

Tozzi faced some trouble in the second but did well to work out of it and protect the Catholic lead. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Tozzi began to struggle with his command. Three straight Royals reached on a walk sandwiched by two hit by pitches. Jake Elston then came through with a single that plated one and sent the other runners station-to-station. Tozzi stepped up to strike out the next batter to limit the damage and maintain Catholic's advantage, 3-1.

Scranton took the lead in the third inning, when a costly error aided the Royals. After an RBI groundout and a single plated the first two Scranton runs, an Eilbacher misstep in the outfield cleared the bases and allowed three unearned runs to come across.

The Royals got two more in the fourth and again in the fifth before Lacefield came through again in the bottom of the fifth. He plated Burman on an infield single to cut into the deficit at 11-4.

It was all Scranton beyond that point as the Royals scored seven in the sixth inning to really blow the game open and secure the victory.

After the delay and the high-scoring contest, the game was halted at midnight, forcing both teams back on Saturday morning to finish. Catholic now faces an extremely quick turn around as it enters must-win territory in the double elimination tournament. The Cardinals will face Susquehanna, who fell to Elizabethtown in a 12-inning marathon in the other first-round affair. 

The winner will earn the right to face the loser of the Scranton, Elizabethtown game scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in the nightcap at 6 p.m. at Volpe Field. The championship game is slated for Sunday.