It had been 699 days since the Lancaster Bible College baseball team had played a home game at Charger Field, and while wait may have been longer than expected, the Chargers responded in a big way, as Lancaster Bible opened North Eastern Athletic Conference play with a doubleheader sweep of Wells.
 
Lancaster Bible took the opener, 4-0, thanks to timely hitting and a masterful pitching performance from senior Trevor High. Lancaster Bible's bats carried them in game two, and the Chargers also got a great pitching performance from freshman Brian Coburn, as the home team won, 15-3. Lancaster Bible is now 2-0 overall and 2-0 in NEAC play this season, while the Express dropped to 6-5 overall and 0-2 in conference action.
 
Game 1
Lancaster Bible 4, Wells 0
How it Happened: The game was a pitcher's duel for the opening 4 ½ innings, as Lancaster Bible starter Trevor High and Wells starter Luke Eitner went back-and-forth. High got the Express in order in both the third and fourth innings, and then worked out of a jam in the fifth to keep the game scoreless.
 
Ethan Varricchione was the second batter to the plate in the bottom half of the fifth inning, and he tripled for his first hit of the season. After an out, freshman Adam Naylor drew a two-out walk to put runners on the corners. Coburn reached on an error by Eitner, and Varricchione scored to make it 1-0 in favor of the Chargers. Freshman Kaden Hunt followed, and crushed a double to right field that scored Naylor and Coburn. Josh Saufley followed with a double to left field, and Hunt scored to make it 4-0.
 
After a scoreless sixth inning, High looked to close things down for the win the seventh. Despite a few hiccups, and the tying run coming to the plate with two outs, High got Zack Odum to ground into a fielder's choice, and Lancaster Bible had their first home win since late April 2019.
 
Inside the Box Score: High pitched seven scoreless innings, and scattered seven hits, while striking out three…Saufley and Varricchione each had two hits for the Chargers, while Hunt had two RBIs and a run scored…Derek Shea and Keven Spaeth each had two hits for the Express, as Eitner allowed four runs, all unearned, with five strikeouts.
 
News & Notes: The shutout was Lancaster Bible's first at Charger Field since March 25, 2017 when Zack Leonard, Jesse Carver, and Gabe Yoder combined to throw a no-hitter in a 10-0 victory over Valley Forge.
 
Game 2
Lancaster Bible 15, Wells 3
How it Happened: The Chargers opened the scoring in the first inning of game two, as Saufley doubled to left field to score Coburn. Lancaster Bible tacked on five more in the second inning, as Hunt doubled home Naylor, and Saufley followed with a single that scored both Coburn and Hunt. Jake Hahn capped the scoring with a double to right field that scored Saufley.
 
Wells got two runs back in the third inning, but Lancaster Bible game two starter Coburn settled down and pitched six strong innings. Lancaster Bible scored five more times in the home half of the fourth inning, as Varricchione's three-run blast keyed the inning, and the Chargers led, 11-2 after four innings of play.
 
The Chargers continued to pour it on in the late innings, as Jaden Pinkney had a home run to left field in the eighth inning, and Coburn's two-run double later in the inning scored Jacob Stong and Blake Greenly to produce the final score.

Inside the Box Score: Lancaster Bible had 14 hits in game two, led by Coburn who was 3-for-6 with two runs scored and two RBIs…Hunt was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, while Varricchione was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored…Saufley was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored…Greenly added two hits and two runs, while Naylor drew two walks and scored a run…Coburn scattered seven hits over six innings, and allowed just two earned runs while striking out five…Senior Landon Mowry pitched the final three innings to earn the rare three-inning save, as he didn't allow a hit and walked two…Jordan VanHerpe and Max Odum each had two hits to lead the Express.
 
News & Notes: Lancaster Bible is now 5-1 all-time against Wells…Saufley was 4-for-5 with two walks on the day, as he knocked in four runs, and scored two…Hunt had three outfield assists for the Chargers, as his defensive plays helped the Chargers get out of three different innings on Saturday…This marks the first time Lancaster Bible has won its season-opener since 2016, and the first time since the 2005 season, the Chargers have won their first two games of the year.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible is scheduled to host Penn St. Abington on Wednesday at 12 p.m…Both games can be seen on the Chargers Sports Network.