The Lancaster Bible College baseball team finished its North Eastern Athletic Conference-opening weekend on Sunday in Bloomsburg, Pa., as the Chargers lost to Penn College, 12-7, and were swept in the three-game series. The loss drops the Chargers to 3-9 overall and 0-3 in NEAC play, while the Wildcats improved to 5-9 overall and 3-0 in conference action.
 
How it Happened: After Penn College scored a run in the bottom of the first, Lancaster Bible starting pitcher Dan Zimmerman settled in and pitched well, as the Chargers offense woke up in the top of the fourth, and tied the game on an RBI single from Adam Cohick. The Chargers stranded two runners on in the fourth however, and an error in the bottom of the inning with two outs gave the Wildcats two more runs, as the home team took a 3-1 lead after four innings.
 
Penn College scored four more times in the fifth inning, as a three-run home run gave the Wildcats a 7-1 lead. Lancaster Bible came right back in the sixth inning with three runs, as Will Welsh singled to lead off the inning, and moved to third on a double by Jake Hahn. Welsh then scored on an RBI groundout by Colin Myers, and Hahn came around on Nate McFarland's RBI single later in the inning. After Mike VanDame was hit by a pitch, Josh Saufley singled to right field and scored McFarland to cut the Wildcats' lead to 7-4.
 
Trevor High relieved Zimmerman in the sixth, but the Chargers continued to struggle to get outs, and Penn College scored twice to take a 9-4 lead. Lancaster Bible got the runs back in the seventh though, as Welsh singled again, and Cohick and Myers also reached, and loaded the bases for McFarland. He drove a single back through the middle and scored Welsh and Cohick to make it a 9-6 game.
 
Lancaster Bible got through the seventh, but couldn't score in the eighth, and Penn College took advantage of more Chargers' miscues, as they scored three runs in the inning on one hit and two errors. The Chargers loaded the bases in the ninth, as Cohick reached on an error followed by a walk to McFarland, and a pinch-hit single by Jalen Pinkney. Jacob Schenck singled to left to dive in Cohick, but that's all Lancaster Bible could do, and Penn College completed the sweep.
 
Inside the Box Score: Lancaster Bible pounded 13 hits on Sunday, as Welsh was 4-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored…Cohick finished 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI…McFarland was 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored, while Saufley and Hahn also had two hits…The Chargers struck out 14 times as a team on Sunday, and left 14 runners on base…Zimmerman took the loss, as he went five innings and allowed six hits and five earned runs, while striking out six…High threw three innings, and allowed just two earned runs and struck out five.
 
Information Hodge Podge: Lancaster Bible is now 3-9 all-time against Penn College…The Chargers are 0-5 on the road this season…Welsh is the first to 20 hits for Lancaster Bible this season, as he has 20 hits exactly, eight of which are for extra bases…His .465 batting average leads the team, and he also has a .520 on-base percentage…The Chargers struggled in the field all weekend long, as the team committed 12 errors over the three games.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible hosts Gallaudet next weekend for a three-game series beginning on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. ...Friday's nine-inning game will be followed by a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m.