YORK, PA – The York College baseball team improved their win streak to six with a MAC Commonwealth doubleheader sweep of Hood College on Saturday afternoon in York.

The Spartans edged the Blazers 3-2 in the opener and then outslugged Hood 14-12 in the exciting nightcap.

The Spartans improve to 16-2 overall and 12-2 in the MAC. The Blazers fall to 4-12 overall and 2-8 in the Commonwealth.

Game One

Hits: York 7, Hood 5

Errors: York 2, Hood 0

2B: York 2, Hood 0

3B: York 0, Hood 0

HR: York 0, Hood 0

LOB: York 8, Hood 3

WP: Brandon Haggerty (5-0) LP: Jahlin Jean-Bapiste (2-3) Save: Conor Miller (4)

How It Happened:

• The Spartans got on the board in the bottom of the first as Austin Denlinger doubled to right center and came around to score on a Joe Capobianco two-out single, giving York the 1-0 lead.

• Luke Turner added to the lead in the second as he blasted a solo homer deep to left field, giving York the 2-0 lead.

• York added a third run in the fourth as Turner walked to open the inning. He moved to second on a ground out and scored on a Jayden Cowan two-out double to left.

• Senior starter Brandon Haggerty cruised through the first five innings as he was throwing a three-hit shutout. He walked the lead-off hitter in the sixth and then got drilled by a comebacker off the bat of Andrew Wenner. A Haggerty wild pitch moved the two runners up to second and third with no outs. Haggerty got back-to-back strikeouts as it looked like he might get out of the inning unscathed. Unfortunately for the senior ace, Hood's Chris Nalley hit a single down the right field line, scoring a pair and cutting the York lead to 3-2.

• Senior Conor Miller had a clean seventh inning to preserve the win and notch his fourth save of the year as the Spartans notched their fifth straight win.

Spartan Leaders

Senior Brandon Haggerty earned his fifth win of the year as he tossed six innings, allowing two runs on five hits while he registered nine strikeouts with one walk … Haggerty had shut the Blazers down through five but was hit by a comebacker and allowed two runs in the sixth … Conor Miller earned his fourth save of the year with a perfect inning of work in the seventh … senior Jayden Cowan was the lone Spartan with multiple hits in the game as he was 2-for-4 with one RBI … Luke Turner had his first homer of the year as he went 1-for-2 with two runs scored, an RBI and a walk … Joe Capobianco was 1-for-2 with an RBI and a walk … senior Jack Barry was on base all three times in the game as he was 1-for-1 with two walks.

Game Two

Hits: York 12, Hood 13

Errors: York 2, Hood 2

2B: York 2, Hood 1

3B: York 0, Hood 2

HR: York 4, Hood 0

LOB: York 6, Hood 6

WP: Tim Halasnik (2-0) LP: Kyle Lewis (0-2) Save: Conor Miller (5)

How It Happened:

• The offensive pyrotechnics started early in game two as the Blazers got a three-run homer from Andrew Wenner to open the scoring in the first inning. York responded in the bottom of the inning with an Austin Denlinger solo shot as the Blazers led 3-1 after one.

• York got one run closer in the second as Joe Capobianco singled and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch. The Spartans tied the game in the third on a Jack Barry solo home run to right.

• The game was tied until the top of the fifth when the Blazers got a two-out, two-run triple from Chris Nalley as Hood took a 5-3 lead.

• The Green and White took the lead for the first time in the game in the bottom of the sixth. Barry and Capobianco drew back-to-back walks for the Spartans. Luke Turner then lashed a double to right center, scoring Barry and moving Capobianco to third. Joey Ricciardi plated Capobianco with a sacrifice fly, tying the game at five. A Brett DeWees fielder's choice RBI scored Turner to give York a 6-5 lead. DeWees stole second and came around to score on a Jayden Cowan RBI single to right center.

• Unfortunately for York, that lead would also be short-lived as the Blazers answered with an Alex Jenkins two-run triple to right center to tie the game at seven. Jenkins scored on a Joe Monteleone single to right as the Blazers led 8-7. York tied the game in the bottom of the seventh as Austin Denlinger singled and then scored on Barry's RBI double to right center.

• Senior Tim Halasnik retired the Blazers in the top of the eighth, setting the stage for the Spartan offense to erupt in the bottom of the frame. DeWees started the rally with a walk. A failed pick off moved DeWees to second. Cowan pushed perfect bunt towards third that the Blazers couldn't get to in time as the Spartans had runners at the corners. Craig Wiley then put down a perfect squeeze bunt to plate DeWees with the go-ahead run. Cowan moved to third on a fly ball to right from Denlinger and then Barry was intentionally walked. Capobianco then put a ball into orbit, smashing it off the netting in front of the Spartan scoreboard as the lead grew to 12-8. Turner singled and then Brandon White unleashed a two-run bomb into the creek beyond the left field wall for the 14-8 lead.

• White's home run would prove to be critical as the Blazers scored four on an infield single, a pair of hit batters and a grand slam from James DeProspero. Senior Conor Miller was again called upon to put out the fire as he got the final out of the game for his fifth save of the year.

Spartan Leaders

The Spartans had production throughout the line up in game two as six players had two hits each in the win … Joe Capobianco was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI … senior Jack Barry was 2-for-3 with two RBI, three runs scored and two walks … Brandon White was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored while he also walked twice … Luke Turner was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, an RBI and a walk … junior Austin Denlinger was 2-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI … Jayden Cowan was 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored … senior Conor Miller picked up his second save of the day as he got the final out in the ninth.

Notes

The meeting is the first in the history of the two programs … Hood added baseball after they left the Capital Athletic Conference and headed to the MAC Commonwealth … the Spartans reached double figures in scoring for the sixth time in game two … the double figures outburst snaps a string of nine straight games in single digits … the Spartans have hit seven home runs in their last three games … the four game two home runs tied a season high (game two vs. Alvernia on March 26) … York struck out ten times in game two, their highest total since they fanned 13 at Widener on March 20 … the Spartan pitching staff struck out 10 and walked three on the day … the Spartans allowed a season-high tying two home runs in the nightcap … the 12 runs allowed were a season-high and it marked the first time York has allowed double figures in runs in 18 games this year … senior Conor Miller continues to move up the career saves list as he passed 2020 Bachelorette winner Zac Clark for fourth on the all-time saves list with his two saves on the day … Miller is now tied for third with Fred Crosse (9) … Clark was also passed by senior Brandon Haggerty on the all-time strikeouts list … Clark had 128 punchouts as a Spartan and Haggerty passed Clark for eighth place with his third strikeout of the game … Haggerty is now fifth on the all-time strikeout list with 136 … Haggerty is four strkeouts behind former teammate Will Grega and 15 back of Joel Kenney for third place at 151 … Haggerty leads the MAC in wins (5) and strikeouts while he is fifth in ERA (2.32) … senior Jack Barry hit his seventh home run of the year which leads the MAC Commonwealth while his 23 RBI and 24 runs scored also paces the league .. junior Austin Denlinger leads the Commonwealth in doubles with 10 … the Spartans lead the Commonwealth in batting average (.339), runs scored (158), doubles (44), triples (8), home runs (21) and RBI (142).

Up Next

The Spartans return to action on Sunday when they travel to Frederick, Maryland to face Hood in the back half of the four-game weekend series. Game one is set for a noon start.  

AUDIO HIGHLIGHTS COURTESY OF DARRELL HENRY - THE VOICE OF THE SPARTANS