ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley College baseball team clinched the top seed in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth Tournament and tied the program record for wins in a season with a big Senior Day sweep of Stevenson University on Saturday at McGill Field. The Dutchmen won the opener 4-3 and then rallied from an early 3-0 hole to win game two 7-4. 

Game 1

The Dutchmen (25-13, 12-3 MAC Commonwealth) found a way to win a pitching duel in the opener. Stevenson (14-24-1, 9-6 MAC Commonwealth) entered the day in second place in the conference standings, just one game back of the Dutchmen, and got on the board first with an unearned run in the second. LVC manufactured a run in the third and another in the fifth to take a 2-1 lead. The Mustangs tied things up in the seventh with an unearned run before Pete Botbyl gave the Dutchmen a two-run advantage in the bottom of the inning. Stevenson scored their third unearned run of the game in the eighth.

Inside the Box Score

• Botbyl knocked in three runs with a sacrifice fly to center in the fifth and then a big two-run single through the right side in the seventh.
• Ryan Murphy got on base three times with a double, a triple, and a walk. He scored all three times. He scored the first two runs on sacrifice flies and then scored the eventual game-winning run on Botbyl's single.
• Jace Fetterman was the second Dutchman with two hits in the game.
• Tanner Rock struck out four in six innings of work. He allowed just three hits and walked two.
• Brendan Landry earned the win with one inning of relief. He struck out one batter.
• Tommy Moore Jr. pitched the final two innings earning the save. Moore struck out three and allowed just one hit.

Game 2

Stevenson (14-25-1, 9-7 MAC Commonwealth) jumped out to an earlier lead with a three-run homer in the first. The Dutchmen (26-13, 13-3 MAC Commonwealth) came right back and tied the game up by the fourth inning with a run in the first, a run in the second, and then two runs in the fourth after the Mustangs scored a run in the third. LVC then used a big three-run sixth to give Kyle Kingsbury his fifth win of the year.

Inside the Box Score

• The Dutchmen had four batters with two hits each in the game. The Mustangs struggled through the early part of the order as Conor Smith, Mike Bulgia, and Fetterman all had multi-hit games. Max Kaplan added a multi-hit game at the bottom of the order.
• Fetterman knocked in the first run for the Dutchmen with a single through the right side scoring Smith.
• In the second inning, Kaplan blasted a 1-1 pitch off the scoreboard for his fifth home run of the year.
• Nico Santoro had a big sacrifice fly to left-center in the fourth where the center fielder made a great catch saving three runs with the bases loaded. Smith then hit a single scoring the runner from second base.
• Kaplan scored on a wild pitch in the sixth with the go-ahead run. Andrew Miles then drove in two with a single through the left side.
• Kingsbury settled into a grove after the first inning and struck out five in six innings of work to earn the win.
• Jacob Horton faced two batters, getting ground out and a walk before being relieved by Tony Bennage who got the Dutchmen to the ninth. Bryce Eberly pitched a 1-2-3 ninth where the Dutchmen turned a beautiful double-play to earn the save.
• The Dutchmen have won nine straight against the Mustangs including the last six on McGill Field.

Who's Next

The Dutchmen will be back on McGill Field next weekend for the MAC Commonwealth semifinal series. LVC will face the winner of Widener and Messiah's first-round game played on Tuesday. Game one will be Friday afternoon while game two and the if-necessary game three will be played on Saturday.