ELIZABETHTHOWN COLLEGE BASEBALL
Saturday, April 19, 2008

Blue Jays Finish Off Sweep of Messiah, 11-7 and 3-1

Click here for the game one box score
Click here for the game two box score

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College moved closer to securing the top seed in the upcoming Commonwealth Conference baseball playoffs after finishing off a series sweep of Messiah College on Saturday afternoon at Kevin Scott Boyd Stadium, winning 11-7 in the opener and 3-1 in the second game.

With the sweep, the Blue Jays (19-9 overall, 8-1 Commonwealth) need to win just one of their three games against Albright College next weekend to earn the top seed in the conference tournament, which Elizabethtown has won in each of the last two seasons.

Blue Jay bats were hot in game one of the doubleheader against the Falcons, racking up 11 runs on 16 hits. Junior Adam Sheibley (Landisburg, PA/West Perry) led Etown going 3 for 4 with a home-run and three runs batted in. 

The Blue Jays jumped on Falcon pitching in the first inning putting up two runs on four hits, Sheibley led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on an RBI single by junior Sam Heaps (Landenburg, PA/Avon Grove), who later scored on an infield single by senior Brandon Watson (Philadelphia, PA/Central).

Etown put two more the board in the second as sophomore Matt Vinagro (Fredericksburg, VA/Stafford) singled and score on Sheibley's home run that cleared the hill in right field.

Messiah put up three runs in the third to even the score at 4-4, but the Blue Jays came back and added four runs in the third as Heaps singled to start the inning.   Senior Jared Auman (Northumberland, PA/Shikellamy) layed down a perfect bunt for a single to move Heaps to second, and with two outs, junior Tom Semanek (Swoyersville, PA/Bishop Hoban) hit an RBI single to score Heaps. 

Sophomore Ben Yeager (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts) singled and a passed ball moved both runners into scoring position.  Vinagro walked to load the bases for sophomore Eric Luff (Lincoln University, PA/ Avon Grove) who hit a two run single to extend the lead to 7-4.  Sheibley's single drove in Vinagro to give the Blue Jays an 8-4 advantage.

Trailing 9-4 in the fifth, Messiah scored three runs to pull within 9-7, but the Blue Jays tacked on two runs in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single by sophomore Rodney Francis (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts) and an error.

Junior Dan Lauletta (Landenberg, PA/Avon Grove) got the win for the Blue Jays with 1 2/3 innings of relief, while Falcon starter Travis Thome took the loss after yielding 14 hits and nine runs in four innings of work.

Etown's pitching and defensive play were the keys to victory in game two, as the Blue Jays turned four double plays in the game.  Sophomore Adam Hartzell (Spring City, PA/Owen J Roberts) tossed a five-hit complete game for the Blue Jays.

Messiah took an early 1-0 lead through two innings of play.  In the bottom of the third, Luff singled and stole second, and scored on RBI double by Francis, who later scored on Heaps' RBI single to give Etown a 2-1 lead.

The Blue Jays added an insurance run in the fourth as Semanek walked to lead off the inning, and advanced to second on a single by Yeager. Both runners moved into scoring position on a passed ball, and Semanek scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Luff.

Hartzell (3-0) allowed five hits and struck out two to get the win, while Jeremy Stoltzfus (3-4) took the loss after yielding six hits and two earned runs while fanning six.

Auman picked up a hit in game two to extend his hitting streak to 14 consecutive games, one shy of the longest streak of the season by a Blue Jay when Heaps hit in 15 straight to open the season.

Game one
Elizabethtown Coll. 11, Messiah College 7
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Messiah College..... 013 030 0 - 7 8 2 (22-12)
Elizabethtown Coll.. 224 120 x - 11 16 3 (18-9)
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Travis Thome, Ben Jordan (5) and Ben Kirk; Matt Kutz, Dan Lauletta (4), Ryan Barrett (6) and Jared Auman. WP-Lauletta (3-1). LP-Thome (4-1). SO-BB: Thome 3-2, Jordan 0-1; Kutz 0-5, Lauletta 4-2, Barrett 0-1. HR-Adam Sheibley (E).

Game two
Elizabethtown Coll. 3, Messiah College 1
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Messiah College..... 100 000 0 - 1 5 0 (22-13)
Elizabethtown Coll.. 002 100 x - 3 6 1 (19-9)
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Jeremy Stoltzfus and Ben Kirk; Adam Hartzell and Tom Semanek. WP-Hartzell (3-0). LP-Stoltzfus (3-4). SO-BB: Stoltzfus 6-1; Hartzell 2-2.