Scranton Lions on a Four Game Winning Streak
Written By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics
On a chilly Saturday afternoon in the electric city, the hometown Penn State Scranton Lions baseball team won both ends of a twin bill against non-conference foe Manor College by a 14-3 margin in the opening battle and a dominant 34-1 triumph in the game two nightcap. With these pair of victories, Scranton is now on a red hot four game winning streak and sees their overall mark improve to 4-7 to kick-off their young 2026 campaign.
The road warriors from Manor College got off to an electric start and took an early 3-0 advantage in the top half of the first inning over Scranton. However, the Lions would come roaring right back and tallied a couple of runs in the bottom half of the first inning, a four spot in the third to take their first lead of the showdown, a big five run outburst in the fourth, and plated three more runs in the fifth frame to activate the 10 run mercy rule in their commanding 11 run home triumph. Scranton also led in the hit department over their opponent by a whopping 10-1 margin during the contest.
The Lions from Scranton had a quartet of players put up stellar multi-hit performances in the match, as junior left fielder Jake Sullivan, stand-out junior shortstop Alex Brinkman, junior center fielder Keegan Litts, and junior second baseman Martino Tobasco set the pace offensively for their ball club. Sullivan led the way going 3-4 at the plate, driving in a game-high five runs, and scored twice during the proceedings. Brinkman was a near flawless 2-3 at the dish, cranking a mammoth solo home run over the left field fence in the first inning, swiped four bags on the bases, tallied four runs, had a pair of RBI, and got hit by a pitch to boot. Litts went 2-3, stole a trio of bases, scored three times, and drew a walk for good measure. Tobasco also was 2-3, stole a base, and knocked in four runs. Scranton's other base hit came off the bat of their sophomore designated hitter Michael Igneri Jr. who went 1-2, drilled a double, walked twice, scored a couple of runs, and drove one in.
Meanwhile, Manor's only hit was from their junior shortstop Charlie Levy who was 1-3 at the plate and scored a run. Manor's other base runners came from drawing six walks and getting hit by a hat trick of pitches.
On the pitching side of things, Scranton started freshman right-handed hurler Paulie Maccarrone on the mound and after a shaky start giving up three runs in the first frame, he bounced back and earned the victory on the hill, as he tossed three innings, allowing two earned runs, one base hit, walked five, and fanned four batters on the day. Senior righty John Paffenroth came in relief for the Lions and wrapped up the ball game, as he threw a sparkling two shutout frames, without allowing a hit, walked just one, and struck out a pair of hitters. Meanwhile, Manor started freshman right-hander Victor Veyan on the slab and he picked up the loss after pitching the first four innings, surrendering 11 runs, 10 of them earned, eight hits, walked five, and fanned a couple of Scranton batters. Sophomore righty Alexander Rebitz finished things up on the mound for his club and in his 1/3 of an inning, gave up a trio of earned runs, two hits, and a walk.
In the game two nightcap, it was all Scranton from jump street, as they exploded for 11 runs in the first inning, another 11 in the second, a six spot in the third, and six more in the fourth frame to account for their robust 34 run output to secure their dominant 33 run triumph in the mercy rule five inning affair. Manor's only run came in the top half of the third inning and they were also out hit by Scranton 13-4 in the contest, to go along with leading in the costly errors department by a 9-0 margin. Scranton also out walked Manor 11-3 in the second game.
Scranton had four players with stalwart multi-hit games in the nightcap, as senior third baseman Alex Ferguson, freshman first baseman Trevor Phillips, junior left fielder Jacob Karsnak, and sophomore shortstop Ryan Yevitz led the way on the offensive side of the ball for their squad. Ferguson was 3-6 at the dish, scored twice, plated home two runs, and stole a base. Phillips went a near perfect 3-4 at the plate, smashing a double, walked once, swiped a bag, scored four times, and had five RBI. Karsnak was 2-2, hammering a three run bomb over the left field wall in the third inning, walked twice, got hit by a pitch a couple of times, stole a base, scored a trio of runs, and knocked in five as well. Yevitz went 2-4, drew a walk, and scored three times. The Lions other three hits came off the bats of senior right fielder Guy Mushow who was 1-1, cranking a grand slam homer to left field in the second inning, got hit by pitch three times, drew a walk, tallied six runs, and had a game-high six RBI, coming off the bench sophomore center fielder Declan Walsh went 1-3, scored a trio of runs, got hit by a pitch, and had a pair of RBI, and last but certainly not least, freshman DH Robert Ninotti was 1-4, swiped a bag, scored five times, walked once, and drove in a run.
Meanwhile, Manor College's four hits came from junior center fielder Manny Roach who went 1-2, with a walk, and an RBI single to left field in the top of the third inning, Levy was 1-3, freshman first baseman Nate Perez also went 1-3, and freshman left fielder Emiliano Hernandez was 1-2 and scored his team's only run of the battle.
In the pitching department, Scranton started junior right-hander Braden Savage, as he continued to roll on the mound after throwing a complete game victory against City College of New York last weekend, this time earning the win by tossing the first three frames of the contest, allowing jut one earned run, three hits, a couple of walks, and fanned three batters in his outing. Junior southpaw Kevin Rivera wrapped up the doubleheader festivities by throwing the final two innings out of the bullpen for the Lions, as he did not surrender any runs, gave up just one hit, one walk, and struck out a hitter in his appearance. Meanwhile, Manor College started freshman lefty Allan Koger on the mound and he struggled, as he took the loss after only surviving 1/3 of an inning on the hill, allowing eight runs, seven of them earned, walked seven, and gave up a hit in his rough outing. Freshman righty Shawn Suero came in relief and finished up the game for his squad with a very high pitch count, as he tossed 3 2/3 innings, gave up 26 runs, 18 of them earned, 12 base hits, walked four, and struck out a batter to boot coming out of the pen.
Now veteran head coach Collin Ferguson and his 4-7 Penn State Scranton baseball team will look to stay red hot and extend their winning streak to five straight games when they travel on the road to face off against non-league foe Bucks County Community College for a scheduled twin bill this Sunday afternoon, with first pitch slated for a 12 noon start. Meanwhile, head coach Charles (P.J.) Hackett and his 0-6 Manor College squad, who are 0-2 in crucial league play, will look to bounce right back from these tough pair of defeats to Scranton and snap their six game losing skid to start their season when they next go on the road to battle Penn State Schuylkill in a non-conference doubleheader this Tuesday starting at 11am.