DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – Luke Pollock hit his first career home run, recorded two RBIs, and scored twice for the Lebanon Valley College baseball team, as the club dropped a hard-fought 7-5 game to Delaware Valley University on Friday, April 19 at Frank Wolfgang Field.
Andrew Spaan started on the mound for the Dutchmen and began his outing by retiring the side in order in the top of the first inning. The junior delivered a scoreless frame with a fly out to left field and a pair of strikeouts. Lebanon Valley opened the scoring in the top of the second inning, taking a 1-0 lead over the Aggies. The club got runners on first and third base with no outs, as
Ethan O'Loughlin led off with a double to left-center field and
Jace Fetterman singled to left-center. Later in the second, Pollock sent a sacrifice fly to center field to plate O'Loughlin.
Spaan posted zeros in the next two innings as well, fanning a batter in the bottom of the second while striking out two more in the third. Delaware Valley got runners on first and second base with no outs in the bottom of the fourth, but Spaan proceeded to retire the next three hitters on a fly out to center field and a couple of strikeouts. The Dutchmen then added a run in the top of the fifth inning, extending their advantage to 2-0. Pollock led off the frame by driving a solo homer over the left-center field wall, marking the sophomore's first career long ball.
Spaan continued his strong performance in the bottom of the fifth inning, registering a shutout frame after a pair of groundouts to shortstop and a fly out to center field. The right-hander also kept the opposition off the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth, maintaining LVC's 2-0 lead. The first out of the frame was recorded after first baseman
Logan Brewer fielded a ground ball and threw to Spaan, who hustled over to first and stepped on the bag for the out.
The Aggies got on the board in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring seven runs to take a 7-2 lead after a frame that included a two-run home run to left field, an RBI single to right, and a two-run triple to left-center field.
Ryan Pickle then tossed a shutout bottom of the eighth inning for Lebanon Valley, registering the third out of the frame on a strikeout.
The Dutchmen continued to battle at the plate until the final out, scoring three runs in the top of the ninth inning. The club loaded the bases with one out after Pollock doubled to left-center field,
Ryan Murphy drew a walk, and
Pete Botbyl hit a single to center. This was followed by Pollock crossing the plate on a wild pitch.
Nico Santoro then came through with a two-run double, scoring Murphy and Botbyl to make it a 7-5 game. This would stand as the final score.
Inside the Box Score
- Pollock hit his first career home run in the fifth inning while tying a game-high two RBIs and scoring a game-high two runs. The sophomore tied a career-high two hits during the contest, hitting a double in the process.
- Santoro hit a two-run double in the ninth inning, tying a game-high two RBIs. The graduate student also competed in his 150th career game for Lebanon Valley, breaking the program record for games played. This record was previously held by Ryan Schwartz.
- O'Loughlin also tied a game-high two hits while recording a double. The senior also walked once and scored a run.
- Murphy registered a hit, a walk, and a run scored.
- Botbyl picked up a hit and crossed the plate once.
- Shane Stossel and Fetterman both tallied a base hit and a walk.
- Brewer hit a double in the top of the eighth inning.
- Spaan struck out seven batters in his start on the mound, tying his career high during 6.1 innings of work.
- Pickle tallied three strikeouts in 1.2 scoreless innings of relief.
Up Next
The Dutchmen will return to the diamond at noon on Saturday, April 20, as the club will close out its series against Delaware Valley University with a doubleheader on Senior Day at McGill Field.
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