GETTYSBURG, PA - The York College baseball team saw their modest three game win streak come to an end as the Gettysburg College Bullets secured a 7-5 non-conference win on a sun-soaked Thursday afternoon at Kirchhoff Field in Gettysburg.

The Bullets improve to 7-4 overall while the Spartans fall to 5-7.

Gettysburg jumped on the Spartans early and often. The hosts got to Spartan starter KC Beshore (New Cumberland, Pa./Red Land) for three runs on three hits and a pair of Spartan errors. The frustrating aspect of the inning for the Spartans is that Beshore got two outs in three pitches to start the game. The Bullets then got a double, a single and a two-run triple to take the 2-0 lead. The Spartans next committed two errors, allowing the Bullets to add a third run in the frame.

Gettysburg made it 5-0 after two innings of play, adding a pair of runs on a two-run Mike Backus single through the left side.

The Spartans got a single run back in the third as Jim Meehan (Mastic, N.Y./Eastport-South Manor Central) doubled, moved to third on a ground out and scored when Kyle Cook (Pylesville, Md./North Harford) lined out to center for a sacrifice fly.

The Bullets answered with two more runs in the bottom of the fourth as they took a 7-1 lead over the Spartans.

However, York didn't go away as Mike Connolly (Selden, N.Y./Newfield) cut into the Gettysburg lead with an RBI single through the right side in the fifth.

The Spartans trimmed their deficit to 7-4 with a pair of runs in the seventh. Cook and Rick Shumway (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg Area) had back-to-back doubles followed by another Connolly RBI single as York found themselves back in the game with two at-bats remaining.

The Spartans got a lead off double from Justin Cohen (Severn, Md./Old Mill) in the top of the eighth but he would not move as Bullet ace Matt Karis got the next three hitters in order to leave Cohen stranded.

The Green and White got a run back in the ninth on a C.T. Stanley (Timonium, Md./Calvert Hall College) RBI single but it would not be enough as the Spartans fell for the first time in four games.

Karis went the distance for the win as he improves to 2-1. He allowed five runs, four earned, on 12 hits with six strikeouts and two walks. He needed 108 pitches to navigate through his nine inning appearance.

Beshore took the loss as he allowed three runs, two earned on three hits in his inning of work. The Spartans, who where playing their fourth game in three days, went pitcher by committee as five different York pitchers made appearances. Tom Moran (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) was the most effective of the Spartan pitchers as the sophomore allowed just one hit in his three-inning stint.

Backus led the Bullet offense as he was 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Drew Roy was 1-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored while Karis added a hit, a run scored and an RBI.

Connolly and Shumway combined to pace the Spartan offense. Connolly was 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI while Shumway was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Cook added a pair of doubles, a run scored and an RBI. The Spartans left 10 runners stranded in the game.

The Spartans continue their busy week with three games against Stevenson University in a key Capital Athletic Conference series. Game one will be held Friday in Aberdeen, MD at the Ripken Baseball Academy. Game time is set for 3:30 pm. York and Stevenson square off again less than 24 hours later as the teams play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1:00 pm at Jaquet Field in York.