HUNTINGDON, Pa.  – The Catholic baseball team hit the road for the first time this season on Wednesday afternoon for a conference stand alone game against Juniata. The Cardinals received a gem of a pitching performance from Luke Cardman and came up with some timely hits to defeat the Eagles, 4-1, to improve to 12-8 on the season.

It looked like a potential quiet first inning for the Cardinals after the first two batters of the game were retired but Sammy Burman changed that when he blasted a solo homer to center field to open up the scoring in the ball game. Cardman immediately answered with a three up, three down bottom of the inning, inducing a double play ground out to wrap up the frame.

Parker Shenman drew a lead-off walk in the top of the third inning and was moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from Matt Perlin. Jack Elwell took advantage of the opportunity by lacing a single to left field to score Shenman and double the Catholic lead to two. Cardman dealt with runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom of the third but induced a fly out to left field to retire the side.

After Cardman tossed up two more consecutive zeros in the fourth and fifth innings while retiring six consecutive batters, Matthew Fisher started the top of the sixth frame off with an infield single and Burman was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with no one out. Lance Eilbacher picked up his first RBI of the day when he ripped a single into center field to bring Fisher home and make it a 3-0 advantage for the Cardinals. 

Cardman ran his streak of retired batters in a row up to 11 in the seventh inning before surrendering a single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. He quickly got out of the inning however with a ground out to first base to complete seven shut out innings in his outing. 

Catholic tacked on another run to the lead in the top of the eighth when Burman recorded another extra-base hit, this time a double to right center field, scoring Elwell to make it a 4-0 ballgame. Juniata finally got on the board in the bottom of the inning with a two-out double to left center but Catholic limited the damage to just the one run.

Will Hanson locked things down in the ninth inning, picking up a pair of strikeouts along the way, to close down a three-run victory for the Cardinals. Catholic is now 3-5 in Landmark play with the victory and now holds a nine-game win streak Juniata.

Inside the Box Score

• Cardman's seven inning shutout performance was the longest outing of his career and also the first time he eclipsed five innings in a game. He punched out four batters and notched his second win of the season.
• Burman recorded his ninth multi-hit game of the season which leads the team with his 2-for-3 performance. He currently leads the conference in RBIs with 23 and raised his average back above .400 at .409 which ranks fourth in the Landmark.
• Eilbacher led the team in hits with a 3-for-4 day while also picking up the RBI. He sits behind Burman for second in the Landmark in RBIs with 20 on the season.

The Cardinals return to the diamond on Saturday, March 28 for a conference doubleheader against Susquehanna. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 12 pm at Harold Bollinger Field.