Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. – Moravian College swept a doubleheader from Lebanon Valley in Commonwealth Conference baseball action Monday afternoon at McGill Park.
The conference-leading Greyhounds (14-8, 12-4 CC), who extended their winning streak to five and clinched a Commonwealth playoff berth with the wins, won 5-2 in the opener before scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh in a 6-5 victory in the nightcap.
Moravian never trailed in either game.
Lebanon Valley (11-11, 7-9 CC), which lost for the fifth game in a row and for the ninth time in its last 11 games, is now tied with Juniata College for fourth place in the conference standings.
Freshman Ryan Dalton (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) was charged with the loss in game one while sophomore Craig Denlinger (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) suffered the defeat in game two.
Sophomore Chris Clancy threw a four-hit complete game and allowed no earned runs for Moravian in the first game. LVC's four hits were a season-low.
Senior Luke Bricker shut out the Valley over the final two innings of the nightcap to earn the win in relief.
Sophomore Scott Montgomery (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) hit 2-for-4 in both games to lead LVC while senior Joe Zielke (Media, Pa./Penncrest) went 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the nightcap.
Clancy (4-3) held LVC hitless over the first three innings while his teammates gave him an early 2-0 lead. The Flying Dutchmen pushed across a pair of unearned runs in the fifth to tie it at 2-2.
Moravian put the game away with two runs on two hits and an error in the sixth then added an insurance run on one hit and one error in the seventh.
Dalton (2-3) went the distance for LVC and allowed eight hits while striking out two and walking three. Only three of his runs were earned.
Lebanon Valley out-hit Moravian 9-5 in game two but committed three costly errors that resulted in three unearned runs. The Greyhounds jumped to a 2-0 lead in the second after scoring a pair of runs on two hits and two errors.
The Dutchmen cut it to 2-1 when Zielke ripped an RBI single in the third but Moravian added one in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a 5-1 advantage.
LVC would rally with a four-run fifth, however, to tie the game at 5-5. Montgomery drove in a run with an infield single before Zielke stroked a two-run double into the leftfield corner to make it 5-4. Senior Tim Rink (Ivyland, Pa./Council Rock) pulled LVC even with an RBI-groundout.
Moravian loaded the bases with no outs against Denlinger (1-1) in the seventh before LVC head coach Jim Hoar summoned freshman Brian McFarlane (North Plainfield, N.J./North Plainfield) out of the bullpen. McFarlane retired three straight Moravian batters but allowed what would hold up as the game-winning sacrifice fly.
Lebanon Valley put runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the seventh but Bricker forced Rink into a pop-out to end the game.
Denlinger gave up five hits and six walks while striking out one. Just three of his runs were earned.
Bricker yielded only one walk and one hit in just his second appearance of the season.
Lebanon Valley continues its seven-day, 10-game homestand on Tuesday when the Dutchmen host McDaniel College in a non-conference outing beginning at 3:30 p.m. at McGill Park.
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