It all came down to pitching and timely hitting Wednesday afternoon in a showdown between two of the top junior college baseball teams in the country.

The No. 1 nationally ranked Roadrunners showed why they deserve their top billing by defeating No. 4 RCSJ Cumberland by a 7-2 decision before a large crowd on a steamy afternoon on the Dukes' home field.

Runners' pitcher Jack Billings was simply brilliant, hurling 8 strong innings and allowing one hit and striking out 14. He improved his overall record to 3-0.

At the plate, catcher John Cristino continued his torrid season by cracking a two-run homer in the fourth inning from his cleanup spot to put the Runners up 3-0. The blast was his ninth of the season and raised his season batting average to .424.

"Cristino has been having an impressive season and is a really good player," commented Coach Rob Valli. "He has shown a lot of power in the clean up spot -- and our guys at the top of the lineup have been been getting on base for him."

Shortstop Sean Szetowicki also added a home run and collected three RBIs to fuel the offense. Valli's team got on the board with a run in the third inning before adding two in the fourth and four in the seventh for a 7-0 lead. The Dukes scored their two runs in the ninth inning.

The two clubs meet again Friday at the Roadrunners' field in a 3 pm start. The Runners will bring in an impressive 24-2-1 record while Cumberland will begin play with a 17-5 mark.

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