WASHINGTON, D.C.  – The Catholic baseball team opened conference play with a doubleheader against Drew at home. The offense rallied late in the first game to come away with a convincing victory before dropping the second game to the Rangers, setting up a rubber match on Sunday.
Senior Roman Tozzi earned the start on the bump for the Cardinals. Drew took advantage of a familiar face, scoring two runs in the top of the first. The Rangers led off with a double, crossing the plate after capitalizing on a bunt where an error brought the first run in to score and an RBI single. 

In the bottom of the inning, the Cardinals successfully evened the score. Sammy Burman started it off with a triple to left center that sent Matt Perlin home, putting Catholic on the board. Chase Falcon then flew out to left field, but not without scoring Burman and making the score 2-2.

The Rangers added a run in the top of the second, recording an unearned run. The Cardinals quickly responded in the bottom of the second with a home run from Jack Bateman over the right field fence, his second of the season. The score was once again 3-3.

The pattern continued in the sixth inning, Drew scoring off a double and Catholic responding with a single from Chris Esquivel that scored Gabriel Ruiz.

Will Hanson came to the mound in the top of the seventh, looking to give the Rangers a new perspective. Hanson faced four batters, creating easy out opportunities for his defense behind him.

The Cardinals moved ahead in the bottom of the seventh. Taig McErlane showed patience in the box, earning a walk to start the inning. Perlin moved McErlane over to second with a sacrifice bunt. With a full count, Lance Eilbacher singled to center and loaded the bases for Burman to step up to the dish. Burman gave the Cardinals the lead with an RBI single. Falcon laid down a sacrifice bunt to give Catholic one more run. After seven innings complete, the Cardinals now held the 6-4 lead. 

After giving up a hit to start the eighth, Hanson collected three strikeouts. The Cardinal bats then came alive in the bottom of the inning. Elibacher collected two more RBIs with his single to second base. Falcon once again came up clutch for the Cardinals, doubling to right field and sending two home. 

The Cardinals picked up three quick outs to close out the game, securing the final out on a ground out to shortstop. Catholic captured the victory, 12-4, bringing them to a 1-0 start in Landmark play. After a scoreless first inning, the Rangers started off the scoring in the top of the second with a pair of runs on a passed ball and a walk to once again grab the early advantage. The Cardinals brought the score back even by scoring a run in both the bottom of the second and third innings. Esquivel picked up an RBI on a walk with the bases loaded and Eilbacher later came across the plate on a wild pitch to make it a 2-2 game. 

Drew regained the momentum when it cashed in with four runs on four hits while using small ball to help score a couple of the runs by dropping down bunts. Catholic came up with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth, the first coming on an RBI base-hit from Bateman before Esquivel scored after a throw down to second trying to stop Bateman from stealing allowed him to dart home to make it 6-4.

In the bottom of the fifth, Burman led the inning off with a four-pitch walk and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. With two away, Ruiz traded places with Burman by ripping an RBI double up the alley in left center field to pull the Cardinals back within one.

The Rangers put the game away in the top of the sixth inning when they brought nine runs to the plate after the first two batters of the inning were retired. Drew kept Catholic off the board for the final two innings to wrap up the contest in seven innings with a 15-5 win. The Cardinals are now 10-4 on the season after the split.

Inside the Box Score

• Hanson continues to shine out of the bullpen for the Cardinals so far this season as the senior notched his second career victory on the mound in the game one win. He currently holds a 1.29 ERA over seven innings pitched with seven punch outs on the season.
• Bateman became the third Catholic player to hit multiple homers this season with his long ball in the first game. As a team, the Cardinals currently pace the conference with 14 homers thus far this season.
• Falcon recorded two more doubles over the two games and eight of his 13 hits have gone for extra-bases this season. His eight doubles are the most in the Landmark to this point of the season.

The Cardinals will play a rubber match against the Rangers on Sunday, March 15 at Talbot Field at 12 pm for first pitch.