WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Catholic baseball team looked to pick up a conference series victory against Juniata on Wednesday afternoon after picking up a road victory over the Eagles earlier in the year. The Cardinals gained the lead in the bottom of the third inning by putting up three runs and they held on for the rest of the game to defeat the Eagles, 6-3, improving to 14-14 on the season.
The Eagles started the scoring in the top of the first inning after a lead-off single from Connor Blough and a walk put two runners on. After both runners stole to put them in scoring position, Zach Johnston recorded an RBI ground out to open the scoring in the ballgame.
Joe Mascaro bounced back with back-to-back ground outs to limit the damage to one.
Catholic fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the second after
Matthew Fisher started the frame with a walk and
Lance Eilbacher drove him in by ripping a double down the left field line to score Fisher all the way from first.
Jack Bateman started the third inning rally with a lead-off walk before
Chris Esquivel placed a single into center field to put the first two base runners on for the Cardinals. The bases were loaded with nobody out and a wild pitch allowed Bateman to come streaking to the plate to give Catholic the lead, 2-1.
Sammy Burman notched himself an RBI with a sacrifice fly into right field and Fisher followed with a single up the middle to extend the lead to three.
Juniata took some momentum back in the top of the fifth when Jace Irvin launched a two-run shot to left field to cut the deficit back to one. The Cardinals promptly responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth as
Chase Falcon came through with an RBI single to left center field to plate Burman to make it a 5-3 game.
Catholic tacked on another run to the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Burman lashed a single into center field that was booted by Juniata, allowing
Matt Perlin to score from first base with the error, which extended the lead to three once again.
Will Hanson got the ball in the final two innings for the Cardinals and slammed the door shut by retiring all six batters he faced to earn his second save of the season with a 6-3 win. Catholic has now won the last 10 meetings against Juniata, dating back to the 2023 season.
Inside the Box Score
- With his two shutout innings today, Hanson continues to lead the Cardinals bullpen this season with a 1.96 ERA over 23 innings on the mound. He has 22 strikeouts in total and is holding opponents to a 2.39 batting average.
- Eilbacher added on to his team-leading hit total with 37 now on the season with his RBI double in the second inning. He also stole a base to move into a tie for 10th on the program's single-season stolen base list with 19 so far this year.
- Esquivel was steady at the top of the lineup for the Cardinals, leading the team in hits with a 2-for-4 effort while also drawing a walk. Esquivel has now recorded a hit in four straight games and has a team-leading on-base streak of 13 games.
The Cardinals return to the diamond on Saturday, April 11 when they take on Moravian in a conference doubleheader. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 12 pm at Talbot Field.
