Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. – Lebanon Valley scored five times in the bottom of the eighth to erase a 5-2 deficit and the Flying Dutchmen defeated Albright College 7-5 Thursday afternoon in Commonwealth Conference baseball action at McGill Park.
Junior second baseman Chris Hotchkiss (Chantilly, Va./Chantilly) singled in the go-ahead runs with a two-out, two-run single as LVC (9-2, 5-0) won its seventh game in a row and stayed perfect in the Commonwealth Conference.
Freshman right-hander Anthony Gebhard (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon Catholic) (1-1) picked up the win in relief to earn his first collegiate victory. He gave up just one hit and walked none in two and two-thirds innings pitched.
Junior reliever Dan Jarrett (0-1) suffered the loss for Albright (5-7, 0-4 CC).
Senior third baseman Joe Zielke (Media, Pa./Penncrest) led LVC's 12-hit attack with a 3-for-5 day at the plate. Hotchkiss and sophomore shortstop Scott Montgomery (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) added two hits apiece while sophomore outfielder Ron Weaver (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Catholic) doubled to stretch his hitting streak to 10.
Montgomery and senior catcher Tim Rink (Ivyland, Pa./Council Rock) both extended their hitting streaks to seven.
Senior outfielder Matt Slivinski paced the Lions, who pounded out 10 hits for the game. Slivinski went 3-for-4 with two runs and two-run homer.
Jarrett came on in relief for Albright starter Jonathan Dochterman in the bottom of the fifth and retired the first eight batters he faced. That streak ended when Zielke singled to lead off the eighth, sparking a six-hit inning for the Valley. Senior first baseman Mark Schauren (Columbia, Pa./Columbia) followed up with a double over the leftfielder's head to put runners on second and third for Rink, who blooped a double down the rightfield line to score Zielke and Shauren and cut the lead to 5-4.
Two batters later, junior outfielder Jeff Greiger (Riegelsville, Pa./Wilson) tied the game with a single up the middle and advanced to second on an error by the centerfielder. After an Albright pitching change Weaver reached on an error, then swiped second on a throw to third that failed to catch Greiger moving up a bag. Hotchkiss delivered the game-winning hit one out later.
Senior right-hander Dallas Noll (Myerstown, Pa./ELCO) started for LVC and was sharp early on. He threw three perfect innings to open the game before running into trouble in the fourth, when Albright scored once on three hits to take a 1-0 lead.
LVC came back to take the lead with a two-run fifth. Montgomery hit a hard grounder that was misplayed by Albright's shortstop to score the team's first run and Zielke followed up with an RBI single.
Albright responded with consecutive two-run innings in the sixth and seventh. Zielke dropped a pop-up in foul territory with two outs in the sixth and the Lions capitalized on the error, scoring twice on three straight hits.
Slivinski whacked a two-run homer off Noll in the seventh to make it 5-2.
Gebhard came on for Noll after the home run. Noll walked just one and struck out eight in six and one-third innings pitched. He allowed nine hits but only two of his five runs were earned.
Lebanon Valley picks up its Commonwealth schedule on Saturday when it visits Albright in a doubleheader starting at noon.
[Photo - Junior second baseman Chris Hotchkiss, who drove home the go-ahead runs in LVC's 7-5 comeback win over Albright on Thursday]
-lvc-
