Box Score Baseball
Lebanon Valley 3, Elizabethtown 2

ANNVILLE, Pa. - Lebanon Valley slashed its magic number to one, picking up a critical win towards the Commonwealth Conference postseason race with a 3-2 victory over Elizabethtown on Senior Day.

On a day that the Dutchmen (19-16, 10-9 CC) honored their eight-member senior class, it was a freshman who shined brighest as Michael Houseal threw a superb complete game to shut down the Blue Jays (17-17, 7-12 CC) and eliminate them from playoff contention.

The win means LVC must win one of two at E-town tomorrow to clinch a CC tournament berth, or have Stevenson win one of two against Albright. Albright won their series opener 10-2 on Friday.

Zac Edwards went 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored two runs, including the go-ahead score in the fifth, while Phill Dohner and Jordan Higgins also drove in runs. Elizabethtown did all of its scoring in the third on back-to-back singles by Sean Jones and Luke Gatti.

Houseal (5-2) dueled with Kris Davis (2-4) and scattered eight hits with four strikeouts over 112 pitches. Davis was also excellent, with three K's and a walk allowing eight hits.

After E-town went ahead 2-0 in the third, the Dutchmen answered back immediately. Corey Cinicola roped a lead-off double into the home bullpen before scoring on Edwards' drop into center. Edwards was sacrified over and went to third on Dohner's fly-out to score on Higgins' single into left and tie it 2-2.

Edwards generated the winning run in the fifth thanks to a lead-off single, and he went to third on a perfectly executed hit-and-run with Zach Smith to allow Dohner's sacrifice fly to right field to get him home.

Houseal worked out of trouble in three of the last four innings after E-town put runners in scoring position with one out in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. In the eighth, Jones led off with a double and moved to third on Gatti's groundout, but Houseal struck out Tyler Weary and Ian Smith, then put the Jays down in order in the ninth to secure the victory.

Before the game, LVC honored seniors Corey Cinicola, Tim Filer, Jordan Higgins, Brian Kaniuka, and Eric Leymeister, Brent McDowell, Jimmie Miller, and Mike Specht as they played their final home conference game. The Dutchmen will make the return trip to E-town Saturday, and close the regular season Tuesday at home with Penn State Harrisburg.