The Lancaster Bible College baseball team opened North Eastern Athletic Conference play with a split of a doubleheader with Penn St. Berks on Saturday in Reading, Pa. The Chargers took game one, 7-3, before dropping game two, 8-6. Lancaster Bible is now 9-5 overall and 1-1 in NEAC play, while the Nittany Lions are 7-10 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

Lancaster Bible 7, Penn St. Berks 3 -- Game 1
How it Happened: Lancaster Bible opened the scoring in the third inning as senior Justin Taylor singled home sophomore Jensen King to give the Chargers a 1-0 lead. The Chargers extended their lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning when sophomore Adam Cohick continued his terrific season with a two-run single down the left field line. 

Lancaster Bible starter Nate Burns was superb throughout game one, though he ran into trouble in the bottom of the fifth when the Nittany Lions scored three times to tie the game at 3-3. Just one of the runs was earned and Burns settled down and got out of the inning. 

The Chargers regrouped and after two quick outs, senior Brian Niedergall reached on an error in the top of the sixth. King followed with a double and moved Niedergall to third and junior Josh Mayer restored the Lancaster Bible lead with a single that scored Niedergall and King to give the Chargers a 5-3 lead. Taylor followed with a double and an error on the play helped Mayer score to make it 6-3. Cohick added another RBI when he singled home Taylor as Lancaster Bible scored four runs with two outs to take a four-run lead.

Penn St. Berks loaded the bases with one out in the seventh inning and brought the tying run to the plate, but Burns worked out of another jam and earned his third victory of the season.

Inside the Box Score: Lancaster Bible had 11 hits to just six for Penn St. Berks...Taylor finished 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs and an RBI...Mayer was 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs and an RBI...Cohick was 2-for-4 with three RBI...Junior Braden Elliott continued to swing a hot bat as he went 2-for-4...King was 1-for-4 with two runs scored...Burns went the distance, scattering six hits and giving up just one earned run and striking out three.


Penn St. Berks 8, Lancaster Bible 6 -- Game 2
How it Happened: Lancaster Bible scored first in game two as well, as Elliott singled home junior Will Welsh in the top of the second of a nine-inning game two. After two three-up and three-down innings for Lancaster Bible starter Zack Leonard, the junior ran into some trouble in the third as the Chargers allowed three runs on four hits. 

The Chargers got a run back in the fifth when King hit a sacrifice fly that scored Elliott to make it 3-2. The Nittany Lions responded in the bottom of the inning with four runs on four hits and took a 7-2 lead. 

Lancaster Bible scored in the sixth, but the Nittany Lions restored their five-run lead in the bottom half of the seventh inning. The Chargers did everything they could in the top of the eighth, as Lancaster Bible scored three runs on three hits and an error to cut their deficit to two, 8-6. 

Reliever Nate Staffieri worked out of a jam in the bottom of the eighth and Lancaster Bible brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but Lancaster Bible couldn't plate another run and lost, 8-6.

Inside the Box Score: Penn St. Berks had 14 hits, while the Chargers had just seven...Freshman Beau Heagy was 2-for-4, while Elliott was 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored...Welsh was 1-for-4 with two runs scored...King was 1-for-3 with two RBI...Tyler Greenly, Gabe Yoder and Staffieri pitched the final 3 2/3 innings and gave up just one run.

Information Hodge Podge: Lancaster Bible is now 5-23 all-time against Penn St. Berks...The Chargers and Nittany Lions split a doubleheader in Lancaster, Pa. as well...Taylor and Cohick each have 22 hits to lead the Chargers...The earned run allowed by Yoder was his first of the season in 14 1/3 innings.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible travels to Frederick, Md. on Wednesday to face Hood at 3 p.m.