Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score
READING, Pa. – The styles were different, but the outcomes were the same.
In a Commonwealth Conference baseball doubleheader at Albright College Monday afternoon, Lebanon Valley used some late-game heroics yet again to win the opener 5-4, as senior Richie Schwartz drove in what held up as the game-winning run with a single in the top of the seventh. The second game was far less dramatic, as the Flying Dutchmen built a 7-0 lead midway through the contest en route to a 9-2 victory, completing the sweep.
Sophomore Mike Snyder went 6 2/3 in the opener to earn his first collegiate victory, and freshman Grant Wiest struck out the only batter he faced to quell a late Albright rally. Sophomore Charley Kline worked a complete game, the first of his collegiate career, and was credited with his team-leading second win in the nightcap.
Lebanon Valley (9-14, 5-6 CC), which has now won seven of its last eight games, pounded out 23 hits on the day and 14 in Game Two. Junior Chris Schank enjoyed a 4-for-5, three-RBI day at the plate while sophomore Brandon Thompson was 5-for-8 with four runs scored. Freshman Joe Soupik went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run in the second game.
The Dutchmen trailed 4-3 heading into the top of the seventh in Game One before staging another rally. Senior Dan Kelly was hit with a pitch leading off before Schank laid down his team-leading fifth sacrifice bunt of the season. Junior John Mentzer followed up an RBI-single and advanced to second on the throw home, making it 4-4 and chasing starting pitcher Tim Flannery from the game.
Jason Dunkelberger then took the mound in relief to face Schwartz, whose single proved to be the difference.
Snyder got a pair of flyouts to start the seventh before running into trouble. An Aaron Kopetsky walk and a Jim Nuskey single put runners on first and second, but Wiest came on to fan No. 8 hitter Derek Althouse and pick up his third save of the season.
The Dutchmen took a 2-1 lead in the third inning on an RBI-single from Kelly and a sacrifice fly from Schank. But Albright (10-11, 5-6 CC) put up three runs on three hits and two errors in the fourth, making it a 4-2 game.
Lebanon Valley inched closer in the fifth on a Thompson single, a sacrifice bunt from junior Corey Lamoureux, and an RBI-single from Schank.
Thompson and Schank each had two hits in the opener while Thompson scored two runs.
Snyder (1-1) scattered 10 hits while walking two and striking out one. Only one his runs was earned.
Tim Flannery (2-3) was charged with the loss for Albright. He allowed five runs on two hits while striking out five.
The Dutchmen’s Game One victory marked the fifth time in its last seven games that they erased a deficit in their final inning to win or go on to win in extra innings.
In the second game, LVC scored twice in the first, then knocked starting pitcher Jordan Boyer out of the game with a five-run fourth that was aided by two Albright errors. Schank and Mentzer had back-to-back RBI-singles in the first, and Soupik made it 4-0 with a one-out, two-run double in the fourth. Two batters later, Thompson drove in a run with a single before a two-run single from Lamoureux capped the big inning.
The Lions cut the lead to 7-2 on four hits and one error in the fourth, but the Dutchmen tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth. Soupik blasted his first collegiate home run, a solo shot, in the fifth, and Wiest had an RBI-single in the sixth.
Thompson went 3-for-5 at the plate while Soupik finished with three RBIs and two runs. Schank and Mentzer each had a pair of hits.
Kline (2-2) scattered nine hits while walking two and striking out five. Boyer (1-2), who no-hit the Dutchmen in 2005, suffered the loss, yielding seven runs (three earned) on eight hits and one walk in 3 2/3.
Lebanon Valley hosts Albright on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in a single nine-inning game as the two teams conclude their season series.
[Photo - Sophomore Mike Snyder]
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