SCRANTON, Pa. – Junior Jake Schilling (Levittown, Pa./Pennsbury) induced a flyout to center field with the tying run at third base to help the Lycoming College baseball team thwart a ninth-inning rally by Susquehanna University, helping the budding program win its first game in the Landmark Conference, 5-4, to cap a doubleheader at Volpe Field on Saturday, March 16. Susquehanna won the first game of the doubleheader, 15-6.
 
The Warriors (4-9 overall, 1-1 Landmark) earned their first Landmark Conference win on their first date of competition in the league after the school was associated with the Middle Atlantic Conference from 1956-2023. The baseball program, resurrected after 52 years off the athletic program's offerings in 2023, beat Susquehanna (5-9 overall, 1-1 Landmark) for the first time since a  4-3 win on April 24, 1969.
 
Sophomore Noah Miller (Winter Springs, Fla./Winter Springs) (1-1) earned the win, tossing six innings, allowing five hits and allowing three runs in his first quality start of the year. He walked two and struck out three. First-year Grayson Rinker (Jersey Shore, Pa./Montoursville Area) tossed two innings of relief, allowing two hits and a run. He struck out three before yielding to Schilling, who earned his first save of the year.
 
Schilling got the first two outs of the ninth quickly, but Sean McCulloch beat out a grounder to shortstop, then reached third with a pair of balls that got past the catcher, setting up the game-ending flyout.
 
The Warriors jumped out to a three-run lead in the first two innings, as sophomore Nick Reeder (Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville Area) got things started with a two-out single up the middle in the first before sophomore Zachary Pleska (Salem, Ohio/Columbiana) delivered a triple off the right-center field wall. He scored on a balk. In the second inning, senior Joey Trout (North East, Md./St. Elizabeth) and junior Nick Hoheb (Brick, N.J./Brick Township) led off with singles. After a fielder's choice, sophomore Zach Kudlacik (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville Area) singled to load the bases, setting up a sac fly from sophomore Jack Kelly (Alexandria, Va./Alexandria City).
 
After Susquehanna's Nick Rossi tied the game with a three-run homer in the third, the Warriors took the lead in the fifth. Pleska walked with one out and scored on a double down the line from junior Evan Mok (Daly City, Calif./St. Ignatious). Trout was hit by a pitch, moved to third on an error and scored on a single by sophomore Max Krasnow (Southwest Ranches, Fla./Western).
 
Susquehanna scored a run in the eighth, but Lycoming's pitching allowed just four hits in the last six innings.
 
Trout went 2-for-3 with a run and Hoheb was 2-for-4 with a run for the Warriors. Kudlacik went 2-for-4 and Pleska scored two runs.
 
Anthony Colucci (1-1) took the loss, allowing nine hits and four earned runs in five innings. He walked two and struck out two. Rossi went 2-for-4 with two runs, three RBI, a double and a homer.
 
Four Warriors finished with two hits in the first game, as Lycoming outhit the River Hawks, 10-9, but 12 walks helped Susquehanna control the game.
 
Kelly finished 2-for-4 with three runs, Reeder went 2-for-4 with three RBI, Mok went 2-for-5 with three RBI and Trout went 2-for-5 with a run.
 
Kelly helped the Warriors get on the board, as he was hit by a pitch to lead off before a walk. With two outs, Mok singled him in from left. In the second, the Warriors took a 3-2 lead, as Trout singled with one out and Kelly reached on an infield single. After a walk loaded the bases with two outs, Reeder singled up the middle to score two.
 
Susquehanna took the lead back with two in the third and broke open the game with six in the fifth. Lycoming closed within five at 11-6 with three runs in the sixth. Sophomore Greg Wirin (Interlaken, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) reached on an error, Kelly singled, junior Danny DeLucas (Whittier, Calif./La Serna) reached on a fielder's choice that didn't yield an out and Reeder was hit to drive in a run. After a strikeout, Mok singled into left to bring in two runs. Susquehanna scored the last four runs of the game, though, to take the first game of the series.
 
Rossi led the River Hawks, going 3-for-4 with four runs, two RBI, two doubles and a triple.
 
Ryan Redmond (1-2) earned the win, allowing eight hits and five runs in five innings, as he struck out eight. Brice Gregory tossed four scoreless innings to earn the save. Senior Zac Zaller (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South) (0-3) pitched 4 1/3 innings for the Warriors, allowing five hits and four earned runs. He walked two and struck out two.
 
The Warriors wrap up the three-game set with Susquehanna with a 12 p.m., game at Volpe Field on Sunday, March 17.