GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Junior Scott Zanghellini hit a go-ahead two-run single in the bottom of the seventh while sophomore Luke Lawrence threw 2 2/3 innings of shutout ball to earn the win in relief as the top-seeded and 21st-ranked Gettysburg College baseball team defeated fourth-seeded Johns Hopkins University 6-4 in the opening round of the Centennial Conference (CC) championship tournament Friday afternoon at Kirchhoff Field.
 
Gettysburg (32-6), the tournament host, moves on to the winner's bracket to face third-seeded Muhlenberg College at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Mules won 9-5 in their first-round game at second-seeded Haverford on Thursday.  Johns Hopkins and Haverford will meet in the first elimination game at 9 a.m. on Saturday to kick off a tripleheader, which will conclude with the winner of the first game taking on the loser of the second game at approximately 4 p.m.
 
Zanghellini finished 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs while senior Tommy LeNoir was also 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored as the Bullets improved up on their school-record win total.
 
Colin McCarthy finished 4-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs to pace the Blue Jays (22-17), who made five errors that contributed to a pair of unearned runs.
 
The game was originally scheduled for Thursday but was pushed back a day due to heavy rain Tuesday and Wednesday that left the field unplayable.
 
In a back-and-forth affair that featured two lead changes and one tie, the Bullets led 4-3 heading into the seventh, when senior starter Drew Felsenthal ran into trouble, loading the bases with one out. Lawrence was then summoned out of the bullpen and yielded a game-tying sacrifice fly to center off the bat of Richie Carbone before senior Nate Simon made an outstanding defensive play at third base, gloving a hard-hit ground ball and throwing to first for the final out.
 
In the bottom of the inning, senior Al Posch drew a leadoff walk versus starter Carter Burns. Two batters later, LeNoir was hit with a pitch, and both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch. Carter used a strikeout to get the second out, but that's when Zanghellini laced the ball up the middle to bring home both runners.
 
Lawrence (4-0) would make the lead stand up, throwing a pair of scoreless innings to close out the win. Hopkins put runners on the corners in the eighth after stroking a pair of two-out singles, but that's when junior first baseman Cory Karagjozi stopped another well-struck ball before stepping on the bag himself for the final out. Making just his sixth start at first base, he also scooped a scorching grounder and flipped it to a covering Lawrence to get the second out of the inning.
 
After allowing a leadoff single in the ninth, Lawrence (4-0) retired the final three batters, catching Conor Reynolds looking to end the game.
 
The Bullets assumed a 2-0 lead after plating single runs in the third and fourth. In the third, senior Cam MacDonald reached on an error and would score on a two-out single by Karagjozi. Then in the fourth, Simon doubled leading off before eventually scoring on a wild pitch.
 
Felsenthal threw a three-up, three-down first, but had to work out of trouble in each of the next three innings, when he left five runners on base. The Jays finally broke through in the fifth, scoring three runs on three hits to take a 3-2 lead. McCarthy tied the game with a two-run triple before Carbone put Hopkins on top with an RBI-single.
 
Gettysburg went back in front with a two-run sixth. LeNoir led off with a single and moved to second on an outfield error before scoring when Carter threw the ball away on junior Mike Kielbasa's sacrifice bunt. Zanghellini chased home Kielbasa with a triple into the right-center gap, but he was left at third as Carter worked out of the jam.
 
Carter (5-3) was charged with the loss, allowing all six runs (four earned) on seven hits and four walks while striking out three. Justin Drechsel came on to throw the 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
 
Johns Hopkins, which outhit Gettysburg 11-7, left 11 runners on base while the Bullets stranded nine.