ELIZABETHTHOWN COLLEGE BASEBALL
Friday, April 11, 2008

Elizabethtown Outslugs Lebanon Valley, 13-11

Click here for the box score

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Senior Brandon Watson (Philadelphia, PA/Central) went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two triples and five runs batted in as Elizabethtown College outslugged Lebanon Valley College 13-11 in Commonwealth Conference baseball action on Friday afternoon.

Five other players finished with two hits for the Blue Jays (14-8 overall, 3-1 Commonwealth), who finished with 17 hits as a team, but made five errors withstood two five-run innings from the Dutchmen (8-15 overall, 0-4 Commonwealth) to take the opener of the three-game series.

Juniors Adam Sheibley (Landisburg, PA/West Perry) and Tom Semanek (Swoyersville, PA/Bishop Hoban) along with senior Jared Auman (Northumberland, PA/Shikellamy) all went 2-for-4 with two runs scored for the Blue Jays, while junior Sam Heaps (Landenberg, PA/Avon Grove) finished 2-for-4 and scored three times.

Brandon Thompson went 4-for-4 with three runs scored for the Dutchmen (8-15 overall, 0-4 Commonwealth) while John Mentzer finished 4-for-6 with four runs batted in as part of a 16-hit attack.

Lebanon Valley took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on an RBI single by Mentzer, but the Blue Jays answered with three in the bottom of the first on a two-run double by Watson and a sacrifice fly by Semanek.

Elizabethtown extended its lead to 4-1 in the third as Watson tripled with two outs and scored on a bloop single down the right-field line by Semanek.

In the fourth, the Blue Jays added four more runs on an RBI double by Sheibley, back-to-back RBI singles by Heaps and Auman and an RBI triple by Watson to take an 8-1 lead.

However, the Dutchmen came roaring back in the fifth, stringing together five hits, a walk and an error to score five runs and chase Heaps from the mound without retiring a batter in the inning.

Mentzer had a two-run single while Dennis Morgan and Chris Schank had RBI singles during the rally, but junior Dan Lauletta (Landenberg, PA/Avon Grove) induced a fly out, a groundout and a comebacker to avoid further damage.

Elizabethtown added five runs in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Auman, a two-run double by Watson, a wild pitch and an RBI single by sophomore Matt Vinagro (Fredericksburg, VA/Stafford) to take a 13-6 lead.

The Dutchmen came back in the eighth with five runs on a two-run error, an RBI double by Mentzer, an RBI single by Joe Kopchick and another error to pull within 13-11.

Sophomore Ryan Barrett (Knox, PA/Keystone) came on in the ninth with the bases loaded and two outs, and struck out Schank looking to end the game and earn the save.

Lauletta (2-1) earned the win for the Blue Jays after allowing four hits and four runs in 3 1/3 innings of relief, after Heaps gave up nine hits and six runs in four-plus innings. Faria (2-2) took the loss for the Dutchmen, as he allowed eight earned runs on 12 hits in four innings.

Elizabethtown Coll. 13, Lebanon Valley Coll. 11
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Lebanon Valley Coll. 100 050 050 - 11 16 1 (8-15)
Elizabethtown Coll.. 301 405 00x - 13 17 5 (14-8)
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Nick Faria, Mike Snyder (5), Andrew Pipkin (6), Jacob Becker (7) and Chris Schank; Sam Heaps, Dan Lauletta (5), Chris Minakowski (8), Ryan Barrett (9) and Tom Semanek. WP-Lauletta (2-1). LP-Faria (2-2). SV-Barrett (1). SO-BB: Faria 2-0, Snyder 2-2, Pipkin 0-0, Becker 1-1; Heaps 4-1, Lauletta 0-2, Minakowski 0-1, Barrett 1-0.