FREDERICK, Md. - Hood College's Josh Gall (Odenton, Md. / Arundel) and Chris Shriver (Frederick, Md. / Gov. Thomas Johnson) became the first players in school history to record five-hit games as the Blazers slugged their way to a 17-12 win over Lebanon Valley.
Gall, who came up just a triple shy of the cycle, was 5-for-6 with a double, a homer and a school-record five runs batted in. Shriver was a perfect 5-for-5 with a double and four RBIs. Dylan Johnson (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) also drove in four runs in the game, and matched John Cartagena's (Brookfield, Conn. / Immaculate) three hits.
Hood scored three times in the first inning. Johnson doubled with two outs and scored when Gall went to the opposite field for his fifth homer of the season. Cartagena singled, stole second and scored on Nat Puryear's (Frederick, Md. / Tuscarora) RBI base hit to give Hood a 3-0 lead.
Doubles by Brett Fundell and Matthew Smarkanic scored a run for LVC in the second and the Dutchmen tied it in the third with two runs.
A pair of errors in the fourth allowed Lebanon Valley to go ahead 4-3, but the Blazers scored three runs in the bottom of the inning to reclaim the the lead. With two outs, Gall and Cartagena singled and Puryear walked to load the bases. Shriver followed with a bases-clearing double for a 6-4 lead.
Fundell homered in the fifth to tie the game at 6-6.
Hood took control of the game in the sixth with seven runs. Shriver had a RBI single to score Puryear for the go-ahead run. After a Tyler Cook (Selinsgrove, Pa. / Selinsgrove) RBI single, Brooks Warrenfeltz (Middletown, Md. / Middletown) drew the first of two bases loaded walks by the third baseman on the day for an 9-6 lead. A two-run single by Johnson and a two-run double by Gall extended the lead to 13-6.
The Dutchmen scored three in the top of the seventh, but the Blazers responded with a four-run bottom of the inning. Warrenfeltz drew another bases loaded walk and Johnson singled in two runs for a 16-9 lead. An RBI single by Gall made it an eight-run game.
Glenn Dietrich hit a three-run homer in the eighth to finish the scoring.
Travis Schweizer (Chesapeake, Va. / Grassfield) went 4.2 innings in his second start of the year, but did not factor in the decision. He allowed six runs on 10 hits and did not walk a batter. Kole Hearn (Seaford, Del. / Sussex Tech) picked up the win in relief. He tossed two innings and allowed three runs on three hits and two walks. After Jackson Slotterback (Arnold, Md. / St. Mary's) finished the seventh and eighth innings, Jake Franke (Lisbon, Md. / Glenelg) pitched a perfect ninth.
Six players had two-hit games for the Dutchmen. Fundell and Dietrich both homered and drove in three runs.
Casey Wall allowed six runs in five innings, but was not involved in the decision. Reliver Brandon Popp took the loss, allowing seven runs, two earned, in two-thirds of an inning.
The two teams head to Annville, Pa. for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 26.