WASHINGTON, D.C. – No. 3 Elizabethtown College Baseball moves onto Sunday with a perfect record in the Landmark Conference Tournament, topping host No. 2 Catholic, 5-4, Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Blue Jays improve to 15-9 on the season, while the Cardinals fall to 15-10.
Sophomore Ben Watson went 2-3 with a triple, three RBI, and a run scored. Senior Andrew Fisher finished the afternoon 2-5 with two runs scored and two stolen bases. Fisher leads the conference with 18 stolen bases on the season.
Elizabethtown manufactured runs from the jump, starting with a lead-off single to right field by Fisher. After the senior stole second, senior JT Thompson moved Fisher to third on a flyout to left field. Watson completed Fisher's trip around the bases, hitting a sacrifice fly to left field and making the score 1-0.
The Blue Jays pushed its advantage to three in the third inning. With runners on first and second with no outs, Watson stepped in again and single through the right side, scoring Fisher.
Later in the inning, Etown loaded the bases with two outs. Sophomore Zach Silfies slapped a chopper towards first base, but a fielding error by the pitcher allowed Thompson to score, putting the Blue Jays up 3-0.
After Catholic got one run back in the bottom of the third, Elizabethtown pushed its lead back to three in the fourth. With two outs and Thompson on second, Watson came through yet again, crushing a triple to center field to bring Thompson around to score, making it 4-1 in favor of the visitors.
In the seventh inning, the Blue Jays would find what would prove to be the winning run. Up 4-2 and runners on second and third, Watson took advantage of a wild pitch, coming home to increase Etown's advantage to three one more time (5-2).
Catholic attempted to mount a rally late, but senior Kelly Holdren recorded the final four outs of the game, giving the Blue Jays the 5-4 victory.
Senior Tyler Dunbar (3-0) recorded his third straight victory, pitching seven innings and allowing two earned runs on eight hits while striking out three. The two runs are the first earned runs allowed by the senior over his last 24 innings. Holdren recorded his first save of the year going an inning and a third, giving up no hits, no runs and striking out three.
Elizabethtown will play the winner of Juniata vs. Catholic on Sunday, May 16. First pitch is set for 10:30 a.m.
