READING, PA – The York College Spartan baseball team stayed hot as they opened MAC Commonwealth play with a 9-5 road win at Albright on Friday.
The Spartans have now won six straight as they have scored at least eight runs in all seven of their wins for the year.
The Spartans improve to 7-1 overall and 1-0 in the league while the Lions fall to 3-4 and 0-1 in the conference.
 
Runs: York 9 – Albright 5
Hits: York 15; Albright 11
Errors: York 1; Albright 4
LOB: York 9; Albright 9
WP: Brandon Purdy (2-1); LP: Lucas Williams (0-2)
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans got on the board in the second as Connor Pickle singled to right. He was able to stroll home after Chris Betler blasted a two-run homer to center, giving York the 2-0 lead. York added to the lead in the third as Robby Elzinga singled with one out. Andrew Santarpia followed with a double to deep left center, allowing Elzinga to cruise home for the 3-0 lead. Betler came through with a two-out single to score Santarpia. The Spartans third run of the inning scored on a Lion error as York led 5-0.
• Albright got on the board in the bottom of the third as Roman Berretta had an RBI single. It could have been much worse but Spartan starter Brandon Purdy minimized the damage as the Lions left the bases loaded.
• The Spartans wasted little time in answering in the top of the fourth. Michael Tinneny ripped an RBI single to score two, pushing York's lead to 7-1. Betler reached on an error but it scored Tinneny with York's third run of the inning.
• After Purdy departed, the Lions reached the Spartan bullpen for four runs on three hits with two walks in the sixth. The big blow in the inning came off the bat of Brendan Stuhltrag as he ripped a bases loaded triple for Albright. Jason Cassidy entered the game with two outs and got the final out of the frame to put out the fire.
• York got their final run in the seventh as Betler singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and then scored on a throwing error by the center fielder as he threw one into the Spartan dugout after a Brett DeWees fly out. Cassidy threw nearly perfect seventh and eighth innings and then closer Ethan Kennedy pitched a scoreless ninth to finish off the first conference win of the year.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Chris Betler: 4-for-5, 2 runs, 4 RBI, HR
Robby Elzinga: 3-for-5, 2 runs, 2 SB
Andrew Santarpia: 3-for-5, 1 run, 1 RBI, 2B, SB
Connor Pickle: 3-for-5, 1 run
Michael Tinneny: 1-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI, SB
 
Spartan Pitching
Brandon Purdy: 5.0 IP, 7 hits, 1 run, 1 ER, 3 K, 1 BB (Win, 2-1)
Eric Chaney: 0.2 IP, 3 hits, 4 runs, 4 ER, 2 K, 2 BB
Jason Cassidy: 2.1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB
Ethan Kennedy: 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans are now 6-0 all-time against the Lions … the Spartans are 3-0 at Kelchner Field … Friday's game was the closest in the series history as the Green and White owned a 76-15 scoring advantage in their previous five meetings … the Spartans were held to just two extra base hits among their 15 knocks … the two extra base hit were their second-lowest total of the year (1 triple vs. Lynchburg in game two of the series) … the Spartans had a season-high five stole bases … York got hit by another pitch as they have been plunked at least once in seven of their eight games … the Spartan pitching staff allowed a season-high tying 11 hits to the Lions … the Spartans are now hitting .373 as a team … York has outscored their opponents 25-4 from the seventh thru ninth innings of their games this year … York continues to get it done with runners in scoring position as they are now hitting .454 (54-for-119) … they are hitting an incredible .742 (23-for-31) with runners on third and less than two outs … they now have 40 two-out RBI … Chris Betler and Andrew Santarpia are riding a team-high eighth game hitting streaks … Betler and Lucas Prendergast both have four hit games this season … Michael Tinneny has a team-high five multi-RBI games while Betler has four … Betler, Santarpia, Robby Elzinga, and Connor Pickle have each reached base safely in all eight Spartan games for the year … Betler set a new career-high with his four hits on Friday … Betler now has three home runs and 15 RBI in just eight games … Connor Pickle tied his career-high with his three hits … Brandon Purdy picked up his tenth career win with Friday's victory.
 
Up Next
The teams continue their MAC Commonwealth series with a Saturday doubleheader in York. Game one (a seven inning game) is set with a 12:00 pm first pitch. Game two (nine inning game) will start 25 minutes after the conclusion of game one.