YORK, PA – The York College baseball team dropped an 11-5 decision to Messiah University in the rubber match of their MAC Commonwealth three game series.
The Falcons went deep four times while the Spartans stranded 20 runners in the game as Messiah has put a firm grip on the Commonwealth's top seed.
York falls to 17-10 overall and 9-6 in the MAC Commonwealth while the Falcons improve toi 24-7 overall and 13-2 in the league.
 
Runs: York 5 – Messiah 11
Hits: York 7, Messiah 13
Errors: York 0; Messiah 4
LOB: York 20; Messiah 7
WP: Josh Nielsen (2-3); LP: Bryce Shaffer (3-2)
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans got on the board first without the benefit of a base hit. Lucas Prendergast began the inning by getting hit by a pitch. Gabe Trevena walked to put Spartans at first and second. After the Falcons got the next two hitters, Chris Betler got hit by a pitch to load the bases. Andrew Santarpia walked to drive in Prendergast for the 1-0 lead. That chased Falcon starter Henry Zercher. Reliever Josh Nielsen then got the final out as Connor Pickle hit an absolute missile right at second baseman Dylan Beard for the final out of the inning as York left the bases loaded.
• After York left two runners in the second, the Falcons struck for three runs to take the lead. Messiah got a hit batter and a single to begin the inning. Falcon third baseman Drew Hurst then launched a three-run shot to right to put Messiah up 3-1.
• York had runners at second and third with no outs but Nielsen buckled down and retired the next three Spartans to escape the jam as York left two more runners in scoring position. Messiah tacked on to the lead in the fourth as Joshua Ammons hit a two run shot. Evan Wagaman then went back-to-back with Ammons as he blasted a solo shot to right center for the 6-1 lead.
• York got one run back in the fourth as York loaded the bases with one out. Betler reached on an error by the Falcons to plate a run, cutting the Spartan deficit to 6-2. Nielsen again wiggled out of a jam as the Spartans left the bases loaded.
• York loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth and scored a run on a Trevena single to center, cutting the Spartan deficit to 6-3. However, the Spartans left the sacks loaded as Nielsen again minimized the damage.
• The Falcons got a Dustin Isanogle sacrifice fly in the seventh as the lead grew to 7-3. York got runners on second and third in the bottom of the seventh but the Falcons got the next three hitters to keep their lead at four.
• Isaiah Parido pushed the led to 8-3 with a solo home run to left center in the eight for the fourth Falcon bomb of the day. York had an uprising in the eighth as Pickle drew a one out walk. Brett DeWees was hit by a pitch. Joe Urban reached on a fielder's choice to put Spartans at the corners with two outs. Prendergast ripped a double to right center to score two with Trevena coming to the play. Trevena, who had reached on his previous five plate appearances, looked like he had walked as he was plunked with a 3-2 pitch. As he headed towards first, the umpire declared that he leaned into the pitch and was out via a strikeout. At the time it looked like a huge play as the Spartans had the meat of the lineup coming up.
• The Falcons made that play immaterial as they tacked on a trio of runs in the ninth to push out to the 11-5 lead, essentially putting the game out of reach. The Spartans got a Betler double and a Santarpia hit by pitch but the Spartans stranded the two to end the game.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Gabe Trevena: 3-for-4, RBI, 2 BB, 2B
Chris Betler: 2-for-5, 2B, HBP
Lucas Prendergast: 1-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2B, HBP
Connor Pickle: 1-for-5, 1 run, BB
 
Spartan Pitching
Bryce Shaffer: 3.2 IP, 7 hits, 6 runs, 6 ER, 4 BB, 1 HB (Loss, 3-2)
Dillon Michaloski: 2.2 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 ER, 1 K, 1 BB, 1 HB
Ethan Kennedy: 2.2 IP, 3 hits, 4 runs, 4 ER, 1 K, 1 BB
 
Spartan Notes
Messiah took two of three in the series however York still leads the all-time series 53-13 … the Spartans have now dropped two straight home games and three of their last four … York is now 13-2 when scoring first and 8-2 when scoring in the first inning … York is 0-3 when an opponent hits three or more home runs in a game … York is now 3-4 against left-handed starters though Falcon starter Henry Zercher lasted just two third of an inning … York was 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position in the game … the Spartans have stranded 39 runners in their last two home games … York has now stranded double figures in runners in six games this year and have left 245 runners on in 27 games, an average of nine per game … York has allowed double figures in runs just twice this year but both have come in a seven day period and both games have come at home … Gabe Trevena registered his ninth multi-hit game of the year while Chris Betler had his team-leading 17^th multi-hit game of the year … Lucas Prendergast extended his hit streak to 13 games, tying him for tops on the squad this year … Connor Pickle extended his hit streak to seven … Predergast notched his fifth multiple RBI game with his eighth inning two-run double … Predergast also extended his reached base safely streak to 17 while Betler moved his to 16 … Michael Tinneny pushed his reached base safely streak to 14 … York is hitting just .281 over their last seven games as they are averaging just six runs per game while they are allowing 8.7 runs per contest … the Spartan slugging percentage is just .389 over that stretch as they have been out-homered 9-3 … York has been hit by 20 pitches in those seven games … the Spartan ERA over those seven games is 6.41 … York was drilled by six pitches on Sunday as they now have been plunked 54 times in 27 games … York drew a season-high ten walks today in addition to the five hit batters … York had another three doubles in the game as they now have 79 for the year.
 
Up Next
The Spartans head out on the road on Tuesday as they head to Rowan University to square off against the Profs in a big regional match-up. First pitch from Glassboro, New Jersey is set for 3:30 pm.