Lancaster Bible College Athletics

The Lancaster Bible College Baseball team hosted their final regular season game of the season on Monday afternoon as they took on Gwynedd Mercy in non-conference play, overcoming a three-run deficit to win 8-4 as they look to the postseason this weekend. The Chargers improve to 17-16 overall and finished 11-5 in the United East while the Griffins drop to 19-17 overall and are 7-8 in the Atlantic East.
 
How it Happened:
Neither team surrendered a hit through the first two innings as the pitchers dueled, with the Griffins' starter throwing the first 4 1/3 innings without allowing a Chargers hit. Gwynedd Mercy broke the scoreless tie in the 4th, then added another in the 5th to take a 2-0 lead on the road. The Chargers ended the hitless streak with an infield single by Everett Bell (So.) in the bottom of the 5th, then Logan Grimm (Fr.) hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Nate Rosenzweig (Jr.) and get LBC on the board. The Griffins then added two runs in the 7th to go up 4-1, but the 7th inning was where the Chargers put together a big rally. After a leadoff single by Tanner Smith (Sr.), a two-run blast to dead center by Malachi Sloane (Jr.) got the Chargers right back in the game as the lead was cut to one. Then with one out and two runners in scoring position, Evan Sareyka (Sr.) tied the game at 4-4 on a single to left field, then Dylan Witkowski (Sr.) gave the Chargers the lead on a sacrifice fly as they rallied for four runs in the 7th to take a 5-4 advantage. Smith then added to the LBC lead with a two-run homer to right field, then a RBI-single from Joey Stein (So.) ended the scoring as Witkowski and Sareyka closed the game out on the mound in the final two innings to secure the comeback victory.
 
By the Numbers:
- The Chargers had eight runs on 10 hits and eight RBI with one error, while the Griffins had four runs on five hits and three RBI with two errors
- Tanner Smith led the Chargers on offense with two hits on 2-4 with a two-run home run and two runs scored
- Evan Sareyka added two hits with one RBI and 1.0 inning on the mound to end the game
- Malachi Sloane went 1-3 with a two-run home run
- Dylan Witkowski went 1-2 with a walk and the go-ahead RBI on a sac fly in the 7th
- The Chargers used 10 different pitchers on the mound on Monday, with five recording a strikeout and Kenneth Smith (Jr.) earning the win (W, 1-1)
- The Griffins were led by Karl Wissman with a team-high two RBI and two walks on 1-2 from the plate
 
Information to Know:
This was the Chargers' first win over Gwynedd Mercy all-time, splitting the regular season 1-1 after falling on the road to the Griffins 12-2 back on March 18. The Chargers have 14 wins this season where they trailed during the game and their seventh win of the year after trailing by 3+ runs. This was also the Chargers' first win this season when trailing after six innings of play, marking their latest comeback-win of the season. The Chargers finish the regular season at 17-16 overall, their ninth time with 17+ wins in program history with a chance for more as they enter the postseason. The Chargers are third in the United East in batting average at .331 and second in slugging percentage at .494 as a team.
 
Up Next:
The #4-seed Chargers begin their United East postseason run on Friday, May 1 as they host #5-seed St. Mary's (Md.) at 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. in a best-of-3 Second Round series, with a deciding game three on Saturday, May 2 if necessary.