YORK, PA – The Spartan baseball team ran their win streak to eight with a doubleheader sweep of Albright in a MAC Commonwealth doubleheader on a sunny Saturday in York.
The Spartans won game one 20-1 and followed that with a tight 4-3 win in the nightcap.
York is now 9-1 and 3-0 in the Commonwealth. Albright falls to 3-6 as they are now 0-3 in the league.
 
Game One
Runs: York 20 – Albright 1
Hits: York 20; Albright 4
Errors: York 1; Albright 1
LOB: York 7; Albright 7
WP: Evan Hughes (2-0); LP: John O'Connor (0-1)
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans took the drama out of the game early as the Green and White exploded for eight runs in the top of the first to surge out to a big lead. The Spartans started the game with four straight hits as it was 3-0 just four hitters into the game. Lucas Prendergast singled to lead off the inning followed by a Gabe Trevena single up the middle. Robby Elzinga singled to center, scoring Prendergast. Andrew Santarpia drilled a two-run double to left center to score Trevena and Elzinga. Michael Tinneny walked and Connor Pickle reached on an error as the lead grew to 4-0. Chris Betler continued his torrid hitting with an RBI double to right to score Tinneny. Brett DeWees plated a run with a sacrifice fly and Luke Moser made it 7-0 with an RBI ground out. After a pair of walks, Elzinga capped the first inning scoring with an RBI single through the left side.
• Betler added a pair of runs in the second as Tinneny doubled and then rode home on Betler's fourth home run in the last three games as he hit a bomb to right for the 10-0 lead. The Green and White continued to pile on in the third as Trevena began the scoring with a one-out solo homer to right. The Spartans would go on to get six runs on six hits as the score was 16-0.
• The Lions got an unearned run in the fourth but York got that run back plus one in the bottom of the fourth as Dawson Shelley had an RBI double down the line and he came around to score on a Brett Michael RBI ground out. York closed out the scoring in the sixth as Jason Cassidy, fresh off a scoreless 2.1 innings of work on the mound on Friday, blasted a two-run homer to right for his first collegiate home run to provide for the final 20-1 margin.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Chris Betler: 3-for-3, 3 runs, 4 RBI, 2B, HR
Robby Elzinga: 3-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBI
Gabe Trevena: 2-for-2, 2 runs, 1 RBI, HR, BB
Michael Tinneny: 2-for-2, 3 runs, BB, 2B
Andrew Santarpia: 1-for-3, 1 run, 2 RBI, 2B
Jason Cassidy: 1-for-1, 1 run, 2 RBI, HR
Brett DeWees: 1-for-2, 1 run, 2 RBI, SF, 2B
 
Spartan Pitching
Evan Hughes: 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 1 run, 0 ER, 5 K, 2 BB, 2 HB (Win, 2-0)
Jackson Kelley: 1.0 IP, 2 K
 
Game Two
Runs: York 4 – Albright 3
Hits: York 8; Albright 7
Errors: York 1; Albright 0
LOB: York 7; Albright 5
WP: Bryce Shaffer (1-0); LP: Dominic Yeager (1-2); Save: Ethan Kennedy (2)
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans got on the board in the second as the York rally started with a Michael Tinneny hit by pitch with one out. Connor Pickle was then the beneficiary of a bad hop as he hit a shot that took a big hop past the first baseman and rolled into the Spartan bullpen for a double. Chris Betler then delivered again with a sacrifice fly to score Tinneny. Pickle came in to score on a Matthew Wade RBI single to center for the 2-0 Spartan lead.
• York got another two runs in the fourth with a pair of familiar characters doing the damage. Tinneny led off the inning with a double to right center. Betler then delivered another bomb to center to score Tinneny for the 4-0 Spartan lead. The home run was his fifth of the week and of the year.
• Albright made it interesting in the sixth as they finally reached Spartan starter Bryce Shaffer, who was cruising coming into the inning. After Shaffer got the first two runs of the inning, he surrendered back to back hits to put runners at first and second. Shaffer then gave up a double to Chris Gorla on a ball that appeared to be foul by more than a foot but was ruled fair as two runs scored. Nick Barton followed with an RBI double to right, slicing the Spartan lead to one. Shaffer's final line is not nearly indicative of how well he threw the ball in the win. 
• Albright had a chance in the seventh as they had the tying run at third with two outs but Spartan reliever Dillon Michaloski got a strikeout to end that threat. The Lions had another chance in the eighth as they got a single and a sacrifice bunt to move the tying run into scoring position. Gorla then ripped a single to center as it looked like the Lions would tie the game but the runner was held at third. Closer Ethan Kennedy then got a 4-6-3 twin killing to get out of the jam.
• Kennedy was brilliant in the ninth as he got a pop up, a strikeout and a fly out to shallow right to earn his second save of the year. The trio of Shaffer, Michaloski and Kennedy were great in game two as the Spartans allowed just three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. They needed to be good as the Albright trio of Dominic Yeager, Nicolas Natalie and Patrick Ahern were equally as good as they allowed four runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and two walks.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Chris Betler: 3-for-3, 1 run, 3 RBI, HR, SF
Connor Pickle: 2-for-3, 1 run, 1 BB, 2B
Michael Tinneny: 1-for-3, 2 runs, 2B
Matthew Wade: 1-for-3, RBI
Luke Moser: 1-for-2, 2B
 
Spartan Pitching
Bryce Shaffer: 6.0 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 4 K, 1 BB (Win, 1-0)
Dillon Michaloski: 1.1 IP, 1 hit, 2 K, 1 BB
Ethan Kennedy: 1.2 IP, 1 hit, 1 K (Save, 2)
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans improve to 8-0 all-time against the Lions … York is now 5-0 against the Lions at home … York has outscored Albright 109-25 all-time in the eight meetings … in game one, the Spartans reached 20 runs for the second time and the second time in their last five games … the Spartans had a season-high tying seven doubles in game one while the three home runs were a season high … York was hit by another two pitches in each game as they have now been plunked 20 times in ten games .. York struck out just three times in the two games … the four runs in game two was the second lowest run total of the year (3 vs. Lynchburg in game two of the series) … York had 11 doubles and five home runs in the three game series against the Lions … the Spartans allowed just one run in game one, tying their best mound performance of the year … York struck out 14 Lions in the two games while they walked just four … Chris Betler had another huge day as is now hitting .579 with 16 runs scored, two doubles, five home runs and a team-high 22 RBI … Betler is slugging 1.026 for the campaign … Betler has five homers in the last four games … Betler now has seven multi-hit games while Michael Tinneny and Robby Elzinga has five multi-hit games … Elzinga had his 20-game reach base safely streak snapped in game two as the streak reached back to the 2023 season … Betler and Connor Pickle have each reached base in all ten games this year while Elzinga and Andrew Santarpia both had nine game streaks until game two … Tinneny has a current seven game reached base streak … Betler owns a ten game hit streak to open the season while Tinneny and Pickle own seven game streaks … freshman Evan Hughes had another strong outing with his career-high six innings of work in game one as he allowed one unearned run with a career-high five strikeouts … Hughes is now 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in 14 innings … Jackson Kelley made his Spartan debut a successful one as he pitched a perfect seventh in game one with two strikeouts … freshman Dillon Michaloski continues to be a force out of the bullpen as he has thrown seven innings without allowing an earned run covering four appearances … closer Ethan Kennedy continues to get it done late in games for York as he earned his second save of the year as he has now thrown 7.2 scoreless innings in five outings this year.
 
Up Next
The Spartans head out on the road on Tuesday as they head to Middletown, PA to face the Penn State Harrisburg Lions in a key out-of-conference contest. First pitch is set for 3:30 pm.