The Lancaster Bible College baseball team split a doubleheader with Penn St. Berks on a chilly Wednesday at Charger Field, as the Chargers took game one, 15-3, but dropped game two, 9-8. The split moves the Chargers to 6-8 overall this season and 6-8 in North Eastern Athletic Conference play, while the Nittany Lions are now 2-12 overall and 2-12 in NEAC action.
 
Game 1
Lancaster Bible 15, Penn St. Berks 3
How it Happened: After Penn St. Berks opened the scoring in the top of the first, Lancaster Bible scored four times in the bottom half of the inning, as Brian Coburn hit the first home run of his collegiate career, and Jaden Pinkney added an RBI single as well. Lancaster Bible had five hits in the inning, and was also aided by three Penn St. Berks errors.
 
Lancaster Bible extended its lead to 5-1 in the third inning on a home run by Ethan Varricchione, as Chargers starter Jacob Stong held the Nittany Lion bats at bay. Lancaster Bible scored four more times in the fourth inning, as Adam Naylor hit an RBI single that scored Jake Hahn, and Kaden Hunt, Josh Saufley, and Blake Greenly had RBI hits in the inning as well.
 
The Nittany Lions got a run back in the fifth, but the Chargers scored three more times in the bottom of the inning, as Naylor had another hit, followed by RBIs from Hunt, Saufley, and Varricchione. The Chargers capped their scoring in the sixth as Coburn had a two-run single, and Hunt tripled him home a batter later.
 
Inside the Box Score: Five Lancaster Bible players had three hits, including Coburn who as 3-for-4 with three RBI and four runs scored…Hunt finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs, while Naylor was 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI…Saufley was 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs, and Varricchione was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI…Greenly extended his hit streak to 10 games with a 2-for-4 performance…Every Lancaster Bible batter had at least one hit…Stong pitched a complete game, as he earned his first win of the season…Stong scattered nine hits, and gave up three runs, while striking out three.
 
Game 2
Penn St. Berks 9, Lancaster Bible 8
How it Happened: Penn St. Berks wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in game two, as the Nittany Lions exploded for five runs in the top of the first, highlighted by Jay Pettit's grand slam. The Chargers got two runs back in the bottom of the inning, as Saufley had an RBI double, and Lancaster Bible took advantage of another error by the Nittany Lions.
 
Eric Gale homered for Penn St. Berks in the third inning to extend the lead to 6-2, but Lancaster Bible scored three times in the fourth inning to trim the deficit to 6-5. Two runs came around to score on an error in the fourth, and Varricchione made it 6-5 with a double to left-center that scored Saufley. The Nittany Lions sent their lead back to two, 7-5, in the fifth, but Lancaster Bible came right back in the bottom of the inning, as Greenly scored on a passed ball.
 
Varricchione tied the game at 7-7 with a triple to right field in the sixth, and Lancaster Bible took its first lead, 8-7, after an RBI groundout by Pinkney. Penn St. Berks tied the game in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Zach Kratz, and though the Chargers had a chance to take the lead in the eighth, the game went to the ninth tied at 8-8.
 
The game didn't remain tied for long however, as Tate Yergey led off the ninth with a solo home run to left-center field. Lancaster Bible had a fantastic chance to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, as Coburn crushed a ball to right field, but Nick Esz, who had just entered the game as a defensive replacement, leapt at the perfect moment and caught the ball over the fence to rob a home run. Lancaster Bible couldn't mount anymore offense, and lost, 9-8.
 
Inside the Box Score: Coburn finished 2-for-3 with two runs and two walks, while Saufley was 2-for-3 with three runs and an RBI…Varricchione was 2-for-5 with two RBI and an run, as those three were the only Lancaster Bible players with hits in game two…The Chargers left 12 players on base in game two, though they did draw nine walks.
 
News & Notes: Lancaster Bible is now 8-29 all-time against Penn St. Berks…The Chargers took three of four games from the Nittany Lions this season…Lancaster Bible is now 3-5 at home this season…Varricchione now has 24 hits this season, while Coburn leads the team with 19 runs scored…Stong's win in game one was the first of his collegiate career…Lancaster Bible's 20 hits in game one were a season high.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible travels to Williamsport, Pa. on Saturday to face Penn College at 1 p.m.