ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - The Elizabethtown College baseball team split with Drew on the opening day of the Landmark Conference series, falling in game one, 12-11, before bouncing back with a 7-2 victory in game two.

With the split, the Blue Jays move to 7-12 overall and 3-2 in league play, while the Rangers sit at 3-15 on the season and 1-4 in the Landmark.

GAME ONE: DREW 12 ELIZABETHTOWN 11

Trailing 9-5 after five innings, Etown bounced back to force extra innings but could not complete the comeback, dropping game one 12-11.

Senior Eamon McCoubrey had a monster day to pace the Blue Jays, going 3-5 with a double, three RBI and a run scored. Senior Tyler McGonigle finished 2-5 with a triple and two RBI, while sophomore Garret Schwartzbeck and senior Robbie Bertucio each tallied three hits.

Junior Anthony Diaz led Drew, going 5-6 with three RBI and two runs scored.

After the Rangers took advantage of four errors by Etown to score seven runs in the bottom of the fifth and take a 9-5 lead, the Blue Jays began to chip away in the top of the seventh. With the bases loaded and no outs, McGonigle started the rally, working a walk and bringing senior James Vito around to score. Sophomore Bryce Keller and Schwartzbeck each then used a fielder's choice to score a combined three runs to tie the score at nine. Schwartzbeck finished the five run inning, scoring on a wild pitch to to give Etown the 10-9 lead midway through seventh.

Drew moved back in front, 11-10, after scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh before Etown knotted things up again in the bottom of the eighth. After leading off the inning with a single, sophomore AJ Bednar moved to second after a balk. A groundout to short by Vito allowed Bednar to go to third before he took advantage of a wild pitch to cross home plate and make the score 11-11.

The Rangers, however, found the winning run in the bottom of the 11th to take game one 12-11.

Senior Eric Sipling (1-1) took the loss in relief, going four innings and allowing one unearned run on four hits and striking out two. 

Junior Giovanni Degiglio (1-0) earned the win for Drew, throwing 2.2 no-hit shutout innings in relief.

GAME TWO: ELIZABETHTOWN 7 DREW 2

Etown bounced back to take game two 7-2, forcing a Sunday rubber match between the two squads.

Senior Andrew Fisher finished game two going 3-5 with a double and two runs scored. Bednar went 2-5 with an RBI and a run scored. McCoubrey and McGonigle each tallied a double.

Freshman Mike Gallaro led the Rangers, finishing with two doubles and a run scored.

Tied at one after the two, the Blue Jays grabbed the momentum in the top of the third. With the bases loaded, McCoubrey reached on an error by the third basemen, plating Fisher and putting Etown up 2-1. The Blue Jays then scored two more runs in in the inning thanks to Keller and freshman RJ Agriss earning bases loaded walks to make the score 4-1 midway through the third. 

The Blue Jays found three more runs in the top of the fourth and then held Drew to one run over the final six innings to earn its third Landmark Conference victory of the season, 7-2.

Junior Nicholas Ortega (1-4) grabbed his first win of the season, allowing two earn runs on eight hits and striking out five over seven innings. Junior Zach Silfies pitched the final two innings of the win, giving up no runs on two hits and striking out two.

Freshman Kenny Yonker (1-3) took the loss for the Rangers, allowing five earned runs on nine hits and striking out two.

Elizabethtown is back in action tomorrow, March 27 against Drew. Opening pitch is set for 11 a.m.