Game One
No. 2 Lebanon Valley 5, No. 7 Stevenson 3

LVC Lineup
1. Towers (RF) 2. DeClerico (3B) 3. Leri (1B) 4. Bulgia (CF) 5. Holdredge (DH) 6. Santoro (SS) 7. Hurd (LF) 8. Smith (2B) 9. Rickabaugh (C), Kingsbury (P)

Stevenson Lineup
1. Murray (CF) 2. Jones (C) 3. Kidwiler (2B) 4. Brandt (3B) 5. McAdam (SS) 6. Carricato (LF) 7. Ferreira (1B), 8. Dao (DH) 9. Perkins (RF), Reich (P)

ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley Baseball Team used solid pitching and timely hitting to earn a sweep of Stevenson and advance to the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals. The Dutchmen took game one 5-3 before winning game two by an 8-3 score. LVC's overall record improves to 19-9 while Stevenson drops to 11-15.

In game one, Stevenson wasted little time jumping ahead of the Dutchmen by scoring a pair of runs in the top of the first. Alex Kidwiler laced a double to right field to bring home Amani Jones for the first run of the game. Jonathan Brandt singled up the middle to plate Kidwiler to grab the early 2-0 lead. The Dutchmen offense struggled to figure out Stevenson's Matt Reich the first few times through the lineup but would finally breakthrough in the fifth.

Conor Smith would lead off the fifth with a double to right-center and would then advance to third on a Mitch Rickabaugh sac bunt. Next up was Bryan Towers who would single up the middle to bring home Smith and get LVC on the board. A few batters later, with the bases loaded, Mike Bulgia would hit a sac fly to right field to score Towers just before the final out was made at third to tie the game up 2-2.

After a scoreless sixth, the Mustangs would take the lead again in the seventh. After a pair of hits to lead off the inning putting runners on the corners with no outs, Kyle Kingsbury would limit the damage by inducing a double play and trading the run for two outs. Stevenson would lead 3-2 but Kingsbury effectively limited the damage.

LVC would make their move in the bottom of the eighth. Michael Leri would double to right field and scored on a Bulgia triple to left to tie the game up 3-3. LVC would work a pair of two-out walks to load the bases and Smith would reach on an infield single to bring home Bulgia and give LVC their first lead of the day. A bases-loaded Shane Stossel hit-by-pitch would bring home another run and the Dutchmen led 5-3 with just three outs to go. Stevenson would start the ninth with a leadoff double but Hunter Tipton would get the next three Mustangs out to shut the door and give LVC the 5-3 win in game one.
 
Inside The Numbers

• Ethan Hurd led the LVC offense going 2-for-2 with an RBI and his first career home run.
• Michael Leri launched his second homer of the season, the other coming back against these same Blazers on March 21.
• Rampone led the Hood attack with a pair of triples and all three RBI.
• Kyle Kingsbury went seven strong innings allowing just five hits and three earned runs while striking out nine batters.
• Hunter Tipton came out of the bullpen to pick up the win, tossing two shutout innings.
• Stevenson's Matt Reich went seven solid innings himself, allowing just five hits and two earned runs.
• Michael Leri and Conor Smith led LVC with two hits each. Mike Bulgia led the Dutchmen with two RBI.

 

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Game Two
No. 2 Lebanon Valley 8, No. 7 Stevenson 3

LVC Lineup
1. Towers (RF) 2. DeClerico (3B), 3. Leri (1B) 4. Bulgia (CF) 5. Holdredge (DH) 6. Blair (C) 7. Santoro (SS) 8. Smith (2B) 9. Hurd (LF), Rock (P)

Stevenson Lineup
1. McAdam (SS) 2. Jones (C), 3. Kidwiler (2B) 4. Brandt (3B) 5. Murray (CF) 6. Carricato (LF) 7. Ferreira (1B) 8. Dao (DH) 9. Perkins (RF), Sullivan (P)

Stevenson once again jumped ahead of LVC in the first inning, again on an Alex Kidwiler RBI-hit, this time a single to left that would plate Billy McAdam. However, LVC would waste little time responding to Stevenson as TJ Holdredge doubled down the left-field line to bring home a pair of runs and give the Dutchmen a 2-1 lead after one. A Bryan Towers infield single the next inning brought home another run and LVC doubled their lead to 3-1.

The Dutchmen would tack on another run in the fifth inning as Mike Bulgia singled up the middle to plate Bryan Towers, giving LVC a three-run advantage. The Mustangs would crawl their way back into it in the sixth scoring a pair of runs on three hits. Kidwiler double to center to bring home the first run of the game before an Anthony Zunno pinch-hit single scored another to pull the Mustangs to within one. Again, LVC answered as Towers doubled down the right-field line to score Ethan Hurd and Nico Santoro to push the Dutchmen's lead back up to three at 6-3.

LVC would add some key insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Santoro led off the frame with a single and would score from first on a double by Conor Smith. Smith would score two batters later via sac fly by Towers to expand the lead to 8-3. In the ninth, Stevenson had the first two runners reach base but Shane Stossel entered the game and struck out all three batters he faced to close the door on Stevenson and give LVC the 8-3 win as the Dutchmen advanced to the next round.

Inside The Numbers

• Bryan Towers finished 3-for-4 with four RBI to lead the Dutchmen offense.
• TJ Holdredge added two hits and two RBI while Nico Santoro recorded a pair of hits and scored three runs for LVC.
• Tanner Rock went seven strong innings allowing just three earned runs and striking out five Mustang hitters.
• Alex Kidwiler led Stevenson with two hits and two RBI.

Who's Next?
The Dutchmen have advanced to the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals after eliminating the Mustangs today. LVC will host the No. 3 seed Alvernia Golden Wolves next Saturday in the semis. Alvernia defeated Messiah to advance to take on LVC. Game time on Saturday, May 8 will be announced at a later date, stay tuned to godutchmen.com for scheduling information.

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