YORK, PA – The York College baseball squad ended their 2021 regular season in memorable fashion with a 16-2 win over Stevens Institute of Technology on Wednesday in York.

The game saw history made by a pair of sluggers wearing the Spartan Green and White. Senior Jack Barry blasted two home runs to eclipse the school career home run record while shortstop Austin Denlinger became the third Spartan in school history to have three round trippers in one game.

The Spartans ended the regular season with a mark of 22-5 as they are the MAC Commonwealth regular season champions. They head into this weekend's Commonwealth Quarterfinals as the top seeded team in the tournament and will host eighth seeded Hood. Stevens falls to 19-9 overall as they will be third seed in the MAC Freedom tournament.

Game #27

Hits: York 17, Stevens 4

Errors: York 0, Stevens 1

2B: York 3, Stevens 1

3B: York 0, Stevens 0

HR: York 6, Stevens 0

LOB: York 6, Eastern 6

WP: Brandon Haggerty (7-0) LP: Axel Johnson (0-1)

How it Happened

• The Spartans opened the scoring with back-to-back no-doubt homers in the first inning by Austin Denlinger and Jack Barry after Brandon Haggerty went 1-2-3 to open the game on the mound for the Green and White. Denlinger's home run landed on top of the center field batting cage, 10 feet above the 390-foot sign. Barry hit a high-arching rainmaker that landed well beyond the 315-foot sign in right field, inside the old cinder track. Barry's shot also tied the program's career record with 28 bombs.

• The Ducks got one back one the second, cutting the lead in half with one run on a pair of well-placed hits just inside the right field line and a shot between the 3-4 hole. The Spartans responded with a well-placed hit of their own in the bottom of the second as Jayden Cowan popped a shot into short left field to score a hustling Brian Jakubek from second base to give York a 3-1 lead.

• A costly Stevens error with two outs extended the Spartans' second inning and York took full advantage as they went on to score seven more runs. Barry led the rally with a history-making grand slam that sailed well beyond the right field fence into the infield of the old track. With the slam, Barry moved into sole possession of first place on the Spartan career home list with 29. The Spartans were not done with the long ball in the second inning as Brandon White unloaded a two-run shot to left center to extend the Spartan lead to 10-1.

• Denlinger went deep again in the third inning with an opposite-field rocket shot over the 16-foot high fence in right field to improve the York lead to 12-1. The homer by Denlinger increased his season total to 10.

• With two outs in the fourth, the Spartans loaded up the bases and Jakubek came through with a sacrifice fly out to deep left field to bring in Wiegers from third as York took a 13-1 lead.

• Sal D'Onofrio came through with some two-out lightning in the sixth as he roped a double over the left fielder's head. White came in to score from second and Wiegers came all the way around from first as the Spartan lead extended to 15-2.

• Denlinger put the final icing on the cake of the Spartan victory with his solo shot in the seventh inning which gave the shortstop three on the day. With the home run, Denlinger tied the program's single-game record, joining Tom Bender and Ashley Swope as the only other Spartans to hit three bombs in a game.

Spartan Leaders

Senior Jack Barry went 3-for-4 with five RBI and two runs scored including his historic two home runs … Austin Denlinger had a career day with three home runs and a double as he was 4-for-5 with four RBI and four runs scored … Denlinger's two home runs give him 11 for the year … Brandon White went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored including his sixth home run of the year … senior Sal D'Onofrio went 1-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored … Luke Turner had two hits and a run scored for York … the Spartans scheduled and sent eight pitchers to the bump in the game as senior ace Brandon Haggerty earned the win with a perfect inning of work … Zach Reed was the only Spartan to throw multiple innings as he threw two perfect frames with six up and six down with a strikeout … Sam Gardner made his collegiate debut a memorable one as he threw a perfect seventh inning on 12 pitches with one strikeout.

Notes

The game with Stevens was the first meeting in school history … senior Jack Barry now has 29 home runs in 115 career games for the Green and White … Barry has 128 RBI including 40 this season in 27 games … for his career, Barry is a .334 hitter with 145 hits, 103 runs, 29 doubles, two triples … he currently leads the MAC Commonwealth in the triple crown categories as he is hitting .438, with 13 home runs and 40 RBI … the next closest player to him in home runs is teammate Austin Denlinger with 11 bombs while his 40 RBIs is eight in front of Denlinger … Barry is second in runs scored (34) to Denlinger who has 35 … Denlinger and Barry are running away with total bases as Denlinger has 99 while Barry has 87 with the next closest player having 69 … Barry is now tied for first in Division III in total home runs with 13 ... Denlinger now has 15 career home runs including 11 this year … Denlinger tied his career high with four hits while his 14 total bases tied him for third in school single-game history … senior Brandon Haggerty leads the MAC Commonwealth in wins (7) and strikeouts (53) while he is third in ERA (1.89) … the Spartan offense continues to show up as they lead the league in average (.341), runs scored (239), hits (323), triples (12), home runs (40), RBI (218), slugging percentage (.559), total bases (529), and walks drawn (109) … York's six home runs in the game tie for second on the all-time single game list, two back of the record set in 2010 at Salisbury … the six bombs tied the six hit at Catholic in 2001, the same game in which Tom Bender hit three against the Cardinals … Denlinger's 14 total bases tie him for second on the single-game list with Rick Dressler (vs. Elizabethtown, 1982) and Travis Gaidos (14 vs. Catholic, 2000) … York's 38 total bases were a season-high for the Green and White … York has hit 17 home runs in the last six games.

Up Next

The Spartans open the 2021 MAC Commonwealth Tournament on Saturday afternoon as they host eighth seeded Hood College in the conference quarterfinals. The teams will play a best of three series starting with a pair of games at York on Saturday. If necessary, a third game will be played Sunday in Fredrick, Maryland. Game one is slated for a noon start on Saturday.

Audio Highlights Courtesy of Darrell Henry - The Voice of the Spartans