Lebanon Valley 10, Eastern 9

LVC Lineup
1. Dohner cf, 2. Edwads 2b, 3. Smith ss, 4. Fundell 1b, 5. Dellinger dh, 6. Puglisi lf, 7. Albright c, 8. Smarkanic 3b, Harned rf, McCabe p

Eastern Lineup
1. Kelly rf, 2. McMenamin ss, 3. Rossi lf, 4. Gorton c, 5. Boykin 1b, 6. Stanley dh, 7. Check cf, 8. Sanelli 3b, 9. Doelp 2b, Sztukowski p

How It Happened
Eastern made it interesting but Lebanon Valley held off the Eagles' late push as Lee Webber got Joseph De Los Santos to ground out to Zac Edwards at shortstop in the top of the ninth inning, stranding the tying run at third base and preserving a 10-9 Flying Dutchmen victory on Wednesday afternoon.

LVC (11-19) led by as much as 9-3 after four but the visitors pushed three across in the sixth, one in the seventh, and a pair of two-out runs in the ninth before Webber, Edwards, and second baseman Michael Puglisi put Eastern (11-20) to bed for good with a 6-4 groundout.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Lebanon Valley took advantage of an Eagle error and scored four unearned runs, all with two outs. Zach Smith reached base on an error and stole second, Brett Fundell drove him in with a single through the left side before advancing to second and third on a pair of wild pitches, Devin Dellinger walked, Puglisi scored Fundell with an infield single, and Colin Albright plated Dellinger and Puglisi with a double to right field.

After Eastern added an unearned run in the second, the Dutchmen answered with a pair in the bottom of the frame. Phill Dohner's sacrifice fly to center field pushed Jonathan Harned across and Fundell's RBI groundout drove in Edwards.

The Eagles got one back in the top of the third but again, LVC had a response. Puglisi led off the bottom half by cranking a double deep into left-center before scoring on a Harned groundball that was booted at second base. Dohner worked a bases-loaded walk to chase Eastern starter Bryan Sztukowski from the game and the Dutchmen led 8-3 after three.

Lebanon Valley starting pitcher Jared McCabe sat down the Eagles in order in the top of the fourth in what proved to be the only 1-2-3 inning of the game and the home team padded its advantage in the bottom of the stanza when Puglisi scored on another Eastern error at second base.

The Eagles showed signs of life by posting their first crooked number (three unearned runs) of the contest in the top of the sixth and tacked on another in the seventh to cut the deficit to 9-7. LVC added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh when Dohner hit his second sac fly of the afternoon to left field and pushed Greg Orlando across in the process.

After Patrick Reagan whiffed the first two Eastern batters he faced in the ninth, the Eagles took to the comeback trail, using a walk, a balk, a wild pitch, two singles, and an error to score two runs with two outs and move the tying run into scoring position. Webber took the bump for LVC and with runners at the corners, got De Los Santos to roll over on the first pitch he saw.

On the Mound
- Jared McCabe (2-2) got the start and the win for LVC, throwing the game's first five innings and allowing just one earned run on six hits and two walks. He struck out a career-high five batters.
- Brandon Popp relieved McCabe in the sixth and Michael Houseal relieved Popp, throwing the seventh and eighth innings. Patrick Reagan struck out the first two Eastern batters in the top of the ninth before Webber earned his first save of the year.
- Bryan Sztukowski (0-4) took the loss for Eastern, going two innings and allowing eight runs, only four of which were earned, on six hits, four walks, a hit batter, and three wild pitches.
- Eagle relievers Jordan Miller and Korey McCormack were solid, combining to pitch the game's final six innings and surrendering two runs, none earned, on six hits and a walk.

At the Plate
- Colin Albright had a good day at the dish before leaving the game in the eighth inning, going 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored.
- Michael Puglisi finished 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI, and a game-high three runs scored. Phill Dohner led the Dutchmen with three RBI while Brett Fundell drove in two runs.
- LVC's six, seven, and nine hitters in Puglisi, Albright, and Jonathan Harned accounted for eight of the team's 12 hits and half of the team's runs.
- Andrew Check was 4-for-5 for Eastern with a run scored and three RBI.
- Craig Stanley and Angelo Kelly each went 3-for-5 for the Eagles with Stanley adding a double and three runs scored.

Around the Diamond
- The teams combined to commit 11 errors on Wednesday.
- Each team had three stolen bases; Zac Edwards, Zach Smith, and Jonathan Harned for LVC and Angelo Kelly, Ryan McMenamin, and Craig Stanley for Eastern.
- Each team advanced a base runner with a balk.
- Edwards recorded four putouts and three assists splitting his time between second base and shortstop.
- The game at McGill Field lasted over three hours. It was the lengthiest home game of the 2015 campaign.

Stat of the Game
11 – The number of combined unearned runs scored on Wednesday afternoon; six for the Dutchmen and five for Eastern.

Next Up
The Dutchmen host Penn State Harrisburg for their final non-conference matchup of the season at McGill Field tomorrow afternoon.