Stevenson 8, Lancaster Bible 6

Stevenson Lineup
1. Mondragon lf, 2. Jones ss, 3. Brandt 3b, 4. Holcomb rf, 5. Smoot dh, 6. Carricato cf, 7. Mesa c, 8. Fratesi 1b, 9. Perillo 2b, 10. Power p

LBC Lineup
1. Brian Coburn ss, 2. Jaden Pinkney cf, 3. Blake Greenly dh, 4. Tyler Cunningham lf, 5. Ethan Varricchione 2b, 6. Kaden Hunt rf, 7. Adam Naylor 1b, 8. Harrison Hobdy 3b, 9. Josh Noll c, 10. Colin Brubaker p

How It Happened
The Lancaster Bible baseball teams rally fell just short, losing to Stevenson University by a score of 8-6 on Tuesday, March 1.

Stevenson (2-7-1 Overall, 0-0 MAC) jumped out to an early lead, scoring one run in the second inning and five runs in the third inning to build a 6-0 advantage and force starting pitcher Colin Brubaker from the game. The Chargers (0-1 Overall, 0-0 United East) started to rally back in the fourth inning, with Jaden Pinkney leading off the inning with a double down the left field line. After Blake Greenly worked a walk, Tyler Cunningham blasted a 3-run home run over the left field fence, cutting the deficit in half. Later in the inning, Ethan Varricchione blasted a single through the right side and then proceeded to steal second and third to put himself in scoring position. Harrison Hobdy hit a hard ground ball toward the short stop, allowing Varricchione to score on an error making the score 6-4.

The Chargers offense once again struck in the fifth inning with Pinkney again leading off the inning with a single. Greenly added a single, putting multiple runners on base. Pinkney was caught trying to steal third base, but Greenly stole second putting himself in scoring position. Varricchione then doubled to left center, allowing Greenly to score and pull the Chargers back within a single run.

The Mustangs answered back scoring one run in the bottom of the fifth inning to stretch the lead to two. The Chargers offense made another push in the eighth inning. Adam Naylor walked, and Harrison Hobdy was hit by a pitch, putting runners on base. After a balk moved runners into scoring position, Brian Coburn smacked a single, scoring a run to bring LBC within one. The Chargers could not score another run in the inning and eventually fell to Stevenson by a score of 8-6.

Inside the Numbers
- Tyler Cunningham jump started the Chargers offense, hitting a 3-run homerun over the left field fence in the 4^th inning.
- Ethan Varricchione was 2-4 with a double that drove in a run in the fifth inning. Varricchione also swiped a pair of bases
- Blake Greenly went 2-3 with a double and two runs scored
- Leadoff batter Brian Coburn drove in a run in the 8^th inning with a single
- The Mustangs were led by Kevin Carricato who drove in four RBIs by hitting a pair of homeruns

On the Mound
- Colin Brubaker got the start, going 2.2 innings allowing six runs
- Matthew Shaeffer came on in relief, halting the Mustangs by throwing 3.1 innings allowing one run on two hits
- Owen Shimmel closed out the game, pitching the final 2.0 innings allowing one run on two hits

Coaching Points
"The boys fought their tails off," said head coach Caleb Abney. "We got down 6 to 0 early and we kept fighting all the way to the end. I'm proud of our guys' energy and dedication to compete. We have a few things to clean up - we made a few costly errors, and we gave the other team too many free bases on the mound, but give lot of credit to Stevenson, they are a good baseball team that made us better by having faced them. I'm really pleased with how we swung the bats. We were ferocious with our 'Dangerous' mentality… We got this first one in the books and hopefully a lot of the first game-of-the-season jitters out of the way. We are excited about the ways in which we know we will improve."

Who's Next
It's a short turnaround for the baseball team, as they return home to face Clarks Summit University in their home opener on Wednesday, March 2 at 3:00 p.m.

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