TYSONS, Va.  —  The Catholic baseball team celebrated senior day on Sunday afternoon, taking on Susquehanna in a doubleheader, trying to bounce back after a hard-fought loss yesterday. After another close loss in extra innings in game one, the Cardinals won a low-scoring affair in game two to earn a split on the afternoon.  The Cardinals got on the board early in the bottom of the first inning, started off by a Sammy Burman double down the right field line to put himself in scoring position with one out. With the bases loaded, Joe Marini continued his strong weekend at the plate with a base-hit into right field to bring Burman home. Zach Burton followed up with an RBI groundout to score Mitchel Johnson to make it a 2-0 game.

The River Hawks answered in the top of the third inning with three runs to take their first lead of the game 3-2. Sam Martucci got Susquehanna on the board with a sacrifice fly into right field. CJ Orrego and Jaden Buschler each recorded two out RBI singles to give the River Hawks a one run advantage.

Catholic used a three-run bottom of the fourth inning to take the lead back 5-3. Johnson brought in the first run on an RBI fielder's choice to score Justin McCarthy. Marini came through once again for the Cardinals, ripping a two RBI double down the right field line to cap off a crooked number inning.

The game went into the ninth inning with the Cardinals trying to protect a slim 5-4 lead. Susquehanna once again came up with a ninth inning rally to push across the tying run. Tyler Hmielewski worked his way aboard with an infield single and worked his way into scoring position with a stolen base. Christian Biuso came up with the tying single into center field to bring Hmielewski in. Mac Meara was able to bear down and strand the go-ahead at third by getting a pop out and a fly out to left. The Cardinals loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth but were unable to cash in and the game went into extra innings.

After a scoreless 10th inning, Susquehanna broke through in the top of the 11th with two runs to take the lead back 7-5. Catholic brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the inning but did not bring a run home and fell by two runs in game one. The Cardinals once again struck first in game two in the bottom of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Dante Pozzi roped a double down the left field line to put himself into scoring position. After a fly out moved Pozzi to third base, Jack Bateman came through with a two-out single up the middle to bring Pozzi to the plate for the game's first run.

In the top of the third inning, two walks put runners on for the River Hawks with nobody out and with two away in the inning, Orrego notched another RBI single up the middle to tie the game up at one. Jack Scholz got the next batter to ground into a fielder's choice to strand two runners on base and keep the game tied. 

The very next inning, Scholz dealt with traffic on the bases once again as Susquehanna loaded the bases with two outs. Scholz once again induced a ground out to first base to keep the score at 1-1.

Steve Thomas was hit by a pitch to reach base to lead-off the bottom of the six inning and Burman followed up with a bunt single to put two runners on for Catholic. With runners on first and third and two outs, Marini came through for the Cardinals once again, singling through the right side of the infield to bring Burman home to put Catholic back on top 2-1. 

The River Hawks once again loaded up the bases in the top of the eighth with an opportunity to bring in the tying run or take the lead. Danny Prior entered the game in relief and was able to get the Cardinals out of the inning with a groundout to third base to keep the lead intact.

Prior set Susquehanna down in order in the top of the ninth inning to prevent another comeback and lock down a 2-1 win for Catholic while picking up his second save of the season. The win moved the Cardinals to 15-13 on the season and 7-7 in Landmark play.

Inside the Box Score

• Marini recorded five hits over the two games on Sunday to finish a stellar weekend at the plate for himself. Over the series, Marini finished 7-for-12 (.583) with three doubles and three RBI and raised his season batting average to .287. He is third on the team in RBI with 20 on the season.
• Scholz put together the longest outing of his young career in game two, tossing six innings while only allowing one run to earn his first career win. He tied his career high in strikeouts with seven while only allowing three hits. The River Hawks were just 2-for-13 with runners on base against Scholz.
• Pozzi's game winning RBI in game two moved him into the team lead in RBI with 30 now on the season. His 30 RBI currently ranks second in the Landmark Conference this season. 

The Cardinals will play their final game of the regular season against Elizabethtown on Tuesday, April 15th in Tysons, Va.. First pitch is set for 3:30 pm at Capital One Park.