ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - The Elizabethtown College baseball team finished the opening Landmark Conference weekend with a split against Scranton, falling in game one 7-5, before taking game two ,11-3, to complete the series victory Sunday afternoon at Kevin Scott Boyd Stadium.

With the split, the Blue Jays move to 6-10 overall and 2-1 in league play, while Scranton now sits at 9-3-1 on the year and 1-2 in the Landmark.

GAME ONE: SCRANTON 7 ELIZABETHTOWN 5

Etown battled back in game one but were unable to complete the comeback, falling to the Royals, 7-5.

Senior James Vito paced the Blue Jays, going 3-5 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored. Graduate student Andrew Fisher also went 3-5 with a double and a run scored, while senior Tyler McGonigle finished the game 2-3 with two walks and an RBI.

Junior Braden Breithaupt led the Scranton offense, going 3-4 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored.

Trailing 7-1 going into the bottom of the seventh, the Blue Jays began to chip away at the Royals' lead. After Fisher led off the inning with a double to right center, sophomore Garrett Schwartzbeck knocked a single up the middle to put runners at the corners with no outs. Fisher then scored the first run of the inning, taking advantage of a wild pitch to make the score 7-2. Senior Robbie Bertucio kept the rally going with a single through the left side and then moved to second on a passed ball to put runners at second and third. Sophomore AJ Bednar then stepped in and grounded out to second, but plated Bertucio to close the gap to four (7-3). Vito and McGonigle then completed the four run inning with an RBI double and an RBI single to make the score after seven 7-5.

After a scoreless eighth, the Blue Jays threatened again in the ninth, loading the bases with two outs but could not bring a run across, dropping game one of the day, 7-5. 

Junior Nicholas Ortega (0-4) allowed three earned runs on seven hits and struck out five in his fifth start of the season.

Junior Daniel Johnson (3-0) earned the win for the Royals, allowing one run on six hits and striking out four in six innings of work. Senior Ryan Heiser earned his second save of the season, throwing two scoreless innings to end the game.

GAME TWO: ELIZABETHTOWN 11 SCRANTON 3

Etown scored eight unanswered runs to start the game on its way to the 11-3 win to earn the 2-1 series win against Scranton.

Fisher led the offensive onslaught, going 3-4 with a career-high four runs scored, two RBI and two stolen bases. Senior Joey Thomas and McGonigle each finished with a double.

Senior Jake Lisicky led the Royals with a team-high two hits.

Leading 4-0 after three innings, the Blue Jays opened up the scoring in the fourth with three runs. With runners on second and third and no outs, junior Justin Wetzel came around to score after Schwartzbeck reached on a fielder's choice. After Bertucio was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Bednar singled through the left side, plating fisher and making the score 6-0. Schwartzbeck then completed the scoring, scampering home after Vito grounded into a double play to bring the score to 7-0 after four innings.

Etown would add four more runs, matching a season-high with 15 hits, to earn the game two victory, 11-3.

Freshman Kyle Mulville (2-0) earned his second win of the season, pitching five shutout innings, scattering four hits and striking out three. Senior Eric Sipling pitched three innings of relief, allowing one earned run on two hits and striking out five. Senior Eamon McCoubrey completed the outing, pitching one innings and allowing two runs on two hits and striking out one.

Senior Josh Lydon (1-2) lasted three innings in the losing effort, allowing seven runs, two earned, on six hits and striking out one.

Elizabethtown hits the road Wednesday, March 23 to take on Lebanon Valley. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.