Front Royal, VA – Christendom Baseball (0-6) picked up their first win of the season against Penn State Scranton (5-6) in a wild double header on Saturday March 16, 2024.

Game 1 – The Crusaders opened the scoring early plating 3 runs in the bottom half of the 1^st inning. The team tacked on another run in the 3^rd to go up 4-0. Meanwhile, Thomas Sullivan (Senior/ Omaha, NE) was dealing on the mound, tossing 4 straight scoreless innings only allowing 2 hits. However, Penn State Scranton would tag Sullivan for two runs in the 5^th, making it a 5-2 game. Defensive mistakes cost the Crusaders big in the later half of game 1. Penn State's offense, backed by a solid pitching outing from their starter slowly crept their way back into the game. The Crusaders went into the 7^th inning up by a single run with Sullivan still on the mound. More defensive miscues, namely walks and errors allowed Penn State to take a late lead, eventually leading to the Crusaders dropping the game 5-7.

T. Sullivan, Joseph Romero (Freshman/San Diego, CA) and Peter Sullivan (Sophomore/ Omaha, NE) all had solid days at the plate combining for 6 hits and 9 total bases.

Game 2 – Game 2 for the Crusaders started just as well as game one. After the Christendom's starter Joseph Romero allowed an early 1^st inning run, the Crusader offense answered with 5 runs in their half of the 1^st and another 3 runs in the 2^nd, commanding an early 8-1 lead over the Nittany Lions. But Penn State Scranton did not go away. In the 3^rd inning, their persistent bats knocked J. Romero out of the game, putting up 4 earned runs. They added another 3 runs over the next two innings to tie the game 8-8 off pitchers Pat Brezinsky (Senior/Montrose, CO) and Matt O'Hara (Freshman/ Hershey, PA). In the bottom of the 6^th however, Christendom's offense stormed back, plating 6 runs. Luke Roman (Sophomore/ Lilburn, GA) and T. Sullivan both had 2RBI doubles in the inning, providing the Crusaders with insurance runs that proved to be critical. Christendom's lead was now 14-8 going into the last inning of play. Will Coleman (Freshman/ Milwaukee, WI) continued his stint on the mound in the 7^th, trying to capture Christendom's first win. But after allowing a seemingly harmless leadoff homerun, Penn State Scranton refused to quit, tallying 5 runs in the inning. The score was now 14-13, with the Crusaders hanging on to a once substantial lead. To end a wild day of baseball, Paul Amuso (Freshman/ Bristow, VA) closed out the game flipping a ground ball to second base, giving Christendom Baseball its first win of the 2024 season.

Pitcher W. Coleman picked up his first win of the year, throwing 2 innings allowing 4 hits and 4 ER. Several players for the Crusaders had good games at the plate, including M. O'Hara, T. Sullivan, Anthony Pegis (Freshman/ Front Royal, VA), and P. Amuso, all having multiple hits and RBIs on the day.