Arcadia 5, Lebanon Valley 4

LVC Lineup
1. Puglisi 2b, 2. Edwards ss, 3. Dohner cf, 4. Fundell 1b, 5. Smarkanic 3b, 6. Dietrich lf, 7. Albright c, 8. Doyle dh, 9. Harned rf, Wall p

Arcadia Lineup
1. Yiantsos 1b, 2. Wagner lf, 3. Todero 3b, 4. Arsenault dh, 5. Chasmar 2b, 6. Nessel rf, 7. Draude c, 8. Pagan ss, 9. Coisson cf, Goldberg p

How It Happened
Another day, another never-say-die performance from Lebanon Valley. Trailing 5-1 with one down in the eighth, the Flying Dutchmen turned a foregone conclusion into a hard-fought comeback effort that fell agonizingly short in the team's 5-4 loss to Arcadia at McGill Field on Friday afternoon.

Zac Edwards hit his second home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth, driving a 1-1 fastball over the right field wall into the Arcadia bullpen and bringing Michael Puglisi around with him to cut the deficit to 5-3.

LVC had a chance to tie or win the game in the ninth when the Knights' Jake Lloyd relieved starter Jason Goldberg and struggled to begin the frame. Matthew Smarkanic was hit by a pitch to begin the stanza's bottom half before Glenn Dietrich, Colin Albright, and Devin Dellinger walked in consecutive at-bats to draw the Dutchmen within one. Lloyd settled down from there, recording crucial back-to-back strikeouts before Arcadia shortstop George Pagano stranded three runners when he made a good play on a slow groundball back up the middle to end the game.  

A Nick Todero triple to left field plated two Arcadia runs and broke open a close game in the top of the seventh, putting the visitors ahead 4-1 before they padded the lead with another run on a one-out groundout to shortstop in the eighth.

With his team down 2-0 in the sixth, clean-up man Brett Fundell launched a two-out double 390 feet to straightaway center and drove in Phill Dohner from first base to get LVC on the board.

The Knights struck first when Jordan Chasmar tripled to right field and drove in a pair of runs in the top of the fourth.  

On the Mound
- Casey Wall (3-3) kept his recent string of strong starts intact with a 6.2 inning, five hit performance. He allowed four runs, two of which came on a misread fly ball, three walks, and struck out four Knights.
- Jason Goldberg (4-1) surrendered three runs on seven hits but walked none and struck out four en route to his fourth win of the spring.
- Brandon Popp, Patrick Reagan, and Lee Webber made relief appearances for LVC with Webber allowing nothing in his lone inning of work.
- Jake Lloyd picked up his first save of the season for Arcadia despite allowing one run on three walks and hit-by-pitch.

At the Plate
- Zac Edwards long ball was the catalyst for Lebanon Valley's late rally and he finished 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored. Brett Fundell's double and Devin Dellinger's bases-loaded walk accounted for the rest of the team's RBI.
- LVC's 1-4 hitters in Mike Puglisi (2), Edwards (2), Phill Dohner (2), and Brett Fundell (1) accounted for all seven of the team's hits.
- Jordan Chasmar had a big day at the plate for the Knights, finishing 4-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Nick Todero was 2-for-4 and drove in two runs.
- Arcadia knocked four extra-base hits. The Dutchmen had two.

Around the Diamond
- Zac Edwards leads the team in home runs (2). No other LVC player has yet to go deep this spring.
- Phill Dohner saw some action, making six putouts in center field while Edwards had three putouts and six assists at shortstop.
- Each team grounded into a double play once. Michael Puglisi, Edwards, and Brett Fundell turned two in 4-6-3 fashion for the Dutchmen in the top of the eighth.
- Neither team attempted to steal a base during Friday's contest.
- Each team recorded one error but neither led to an unearned run.
- LVC put the ball in play for the majority of the game with eight fly ball outs to the outfield.

Stat of the Game
12 – The number of outings Lebanon Valley has dropped by three or fewer runs this season; further proof that the Dutchmen are rarely out of a game until the final out is recorded.

Next Up
The Dutchmen travel to Arcadia tomorrow afternoon to finish off their Commonwealth Conference, weekend series with the Knights.