Game 1 Box Score  Game 2 Box Score

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley College baseball team dropped both ends of a Commonwealth Conference doubleheader at Elizabethtown Monday afternoon at Boyd Stadium.

The Blue Jays scored 10 unanswered runs to start the first game en route to a 13-5 victory, then completed their three-game series sweep with a 1-0 nailbiter in the nightcap.

E-town also defeated Lebanon Valley 4-3 on Sunday.

The twinbill was originally scheduled to be played at Lebanon Valley, but it was forced to be held at E-town due to unplayable field conditions at McGill Park. In both games, the Flying Dutchmen served as the home team.

The Dutchmen (1-10, 0-3 CC) have now lost their last 10 games after winning their season opener.

Senior Dan Kelly led the Valley offensively, going 4-for-7 with a double for the afternoon.

In the opener, Elizabethtown (9-4, 3-0 CC) led 2-0 after the first inning, then plated four unearned runs in the second against freshman starter Josh Muscalus. E-town added four more runs on four hits in the third, when it sent all nine batters to the plate.

In the meantime, starter Josh Heaps was pitching well for the Blue Jays. He shut out the Dutchmen over the first four innings, although LVC had at least one hit in each frame and left five runners on base during that span. Lebanon Valley finally broke through in the fifth, getting four runs on five hits. Sophomore Bert Malloy put the Dutchmen on the scoreboard with an RBI-single, and two batters later senior Richie Schwartz drove in a run on a groundout. Two more runs scored when junior Chris Schank reached on an error.

Sophomore Kyle Caruthers worked the final four innings in relief for the Dutchmen. After blanking the Jays in the fourth and fifth, he was touched for three runs on five hits over his final two innings.

Tossing two innings of relief for E-town was Chris Minakowski, who allowed one run on one hit – an RBI-double from Kelly – in the sixth.

Heaps (3-1) earned the win for the Blue Jays, striking out four and walking none while yielding nine hits. Muscalus (0-2) was charged with the loss for LVC.

Kelly finished 3-for-4 in the opener while Schank went 2-for-4.

Elizabethtown out-hit the Valley 11-3 in Game Two, but sophomore starter Nick Faria kept the Jays off the scoreboard, tossing seven shutout innings in an outstanding all-around game. The southpaw picked one runner off first, and two other pickoff attempts led to runners getting caught stealing. In addition, Faria recorded a pair of groundouts on sprawling defensive stops.

The Blue Jays’ best chance to score against Faria came in the sixth, when a one-out double, an intentional walk, and a two-out error loaded the bases. But Faria induced an inning-ending pop-out in foul territory down the first base line.

Elizabethtown reached second base against Faria in only one other inning besides the sixth. The Jays left runners on first and second in the fourth.

Blue Jay starter Matt Kutz was just as impressive on the mound for E-town. Over the first seven innings, he yielded only three hits and allowed just one runner into scoring position.

The game went into extra innings after Kutz made it eight batters retired in a row, working a three-up, three-down seventh. In the top of the eighth, freshman Grant Wiest was called on in relief for the Valley, and he gave up a leadoff single to No. 2 hitter Ryan White. Schwartz caught White stealing with a perfect throw to second, but after falling behind 0-2 in the count, Jared Auman worked a base on balls.

Dean Whetham followed up with a single to right, and a wild pitch put runners on the corners. No. 5 hitter Brandon Watson then rolled a slow grounder into the left side, and shortstop John Mentzer’s throw got the out at second. However, the relay throw to first was not in time for the double play, allowing Auman to score the game’s only run. Wiest got out of the inning with a strikeout.

Kutz was removed from the game after walking No. 9 hitter Joe Kopchick on four pitches leading off the bottom of the inning. Against reliever Andy Mees, Kelly laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Kopchick to second with one out before junior Corey Lamoureux roped a liner into centerfield. But it was right at centerfielder Mike Donahue, and with Kopchick running on the crack of the bat, his throw back to the infield resulted in an easy game-ending double play.

Kutz (1-0) picked up the win for E-town, striking out two and walking two while Mees was awarded a save, his third of the season. Wiest (0-1) suffered the loss for the Dutchmen.

Lebanon Valley returns to action on Wednesday, when it visits Ursinus College at 3:30 p.m. in a non-conference outing.

[Photo - Sophomore Nick Faria, who threw seven shutout innings against Elizabethtown on Monday]

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