YORK, PA-Sophomore Matt Austin (Shrewsbury, PA/Susquehannock) and freshman Jason Christenberry (Yoe, PA/Dallastown) combined to twirl a one-hit shutout as the Spartans defeated St. Mary's College, 9-0, in Capital Athletic Conference action on Saturday in York. The victory gives the Spartans the number one seed in next week's Capital Athletic Conference Tournament. The Spartans, who are ranked 23rd in the nation, improve to 22-6 overall and 8-2 in the CAC while the Seahawks fall to 16-15 overall and 3-7 in the conference. York finished tied with Mary Washington at 8-2 but the Spartans won the tiebreaker with the Eagles, earning their first number one seed since the 1998 season.
    The green and white jumped on Seahawk starter Jon Gill in the bottom of the first. Senior Jeff Young (Wilmington, DE/Brandywine) opened the inning with a double. Sophomore Ryan Craig (Rocky Point, NY/Rocky Point) followed with a double of his own, scoring Young. After Gill retired the next two Spartans, senior Bryan Bednarczyk (Columbia, MD/River Hill) plated Craig with an RBI single.
    The Seahawks got their lone base hit in the top of the second as Donald Redmiles singled with two outs in the inning.
    The Spartans added to the lead in the third with another Bednarczyk RBI single and a Dennis Maxim (Port Jefferson Station, NY/St. Anthony's) run-scoring single. The green and white extended the lead to 7-0 in the fifth as Maxim singled and scored on a two-run homer from catcher  Mike Santoro (Manalapan, NJ/Manalapan). David Moller (Schnecksville, PA/Parkland) doubled after Santoro's bomb and he scored on a Young RBI single.
    The green and white tallied single runs in the bottom of the seventh and bottom of the eighth, providing for the final score.
    Austin tossed seven shutout innings as he allowed just the one hit. He struck out four and walked two as he improves to 6-1. Christenberry was dominate in his two innings of work as he retired all six batters he faced including three on strikes.
    Gill took the loss as he falls to 0-2. He allowed seven runs on 14 hits in five innings of action. He struck out three and did not walk a batter. Kevin DiManna relieved Gill and allowed two runs on seven hits with one strikeout in three innings.
    The Spartan offense banged out 21 hits in the win. Leading the charge was Bednarczyk as the third baseman went 4-for-5 with two RBI and a runs scored. Young was 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Santoro was 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored including his third homer of the year. Moller was 3-for-4 while Craig, Ryan Poff (York, PA/Spring Grove), Mike Connolly (Selden, NY/Newfield), and Maxim each had a pair of hits for the green and white.
    Redmiles had the Seahawks lone hit while Paul Burch and Mike Lance each drew a walk for St. Mary's.
    The Spartans open the CAC tournament on Tuesday afternoon as they host Gallaudet University at Jaquet Field. First pitch is set 3:30 pm.