MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The York College baseball squad opened the four-game South Carolina portion of their spring trip with an 11-4 setback at the hands the Clark Cougars on Tuesday afternoon.
The Cougars scored four in the first and blew the game wide open with a six spot in the eighth after York had cut Clark's lead to one in the top of the inning.
York has now lost four straight after opening the season with an 8-4 win over Rutgers-Camden last Tuesday.
 
Score: York (Pa.) 4, Clark 11
Records: York (Pa.) 1-4, Clark 1-1
Hits: York (Pa.) 10, Clark 9
Errors: York (Pa.) 0, Clark 0
WP: Andres Hulfachor 1-0; LP: Brandon Purdy
 
How It Happened
• The Cougars jumped on Spartan starter Brandon Purdy for four runs in the bottom of the first. A walk and a single set the stage for Chris Radovic who blasted a three-run homer to left, putting the Cougars up 3-0, three batters into the frame. Trevor Ham followed with a triple and scored on a Billy Sullivan sac fly for the 4-0 lead.
• Purdy settled in and threw a scoreless second and third inning but the Cougars got a two-out RBI single from Carter Doran who plated Matthew Kalinak. Kalinak drew a one out walk and was the second walk that came around to score off Purdy.
• York broke up the shutout in the top of the seventh. The Spartans got back-to-back one-out singles from Andrew Santarpia and Davaughn Reid. Joey Ricciardi moved his teammates up 90 feet each with a ground out. Brett DeWees pinch hit and came through with a big two-run double to right, cutting the York deficit to 5-2.
• The Spartan offense tacked on two more runs in the eighth as Robby Elzinga led the inning off with an infield single. He came around to score on an Austin Denlinger base hit. After a pair of strikeouts, Santarpia stroked a single down the left field line, plating Denlinger as the Spartan deficit stood at one.
• Things went sideways for the Spartans in the eighth as Clark got six runs on just three hits in the fateful inning. The three Spartan pitchers in the inning combined to hit three batters and issue an intentional walk as the Cougars made York pay as they turned the one run game into a seven run bulge.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Austin Denlinger: 3-for-4, 1 run scored, 1 RBI
Andrew Santarpia: 2-for-4, 1 run scored, 1 RBI
Brett DeWees: 1-for-2, 2 RBI, 2B
Joe Capobianco: 1-for-4, 2B
 
Spartan Pitching Leaders
Brandon Purdy: 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 87 pitches
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans returned to Myrtle Beach for the first time since the 2020 season after missing out on their trip in 2021 … York is now 1-1 against the Cougars … the only other meeting between the programs came on March 1, 2006 in Florida as York notched a 15-4 win during that spring trip … the Spartan pitching staff continues to struggle with putting runners on via the walk or the hit by pitch … York has hit 10 batters and walked 30 in their 41.1 innings of work … conversely the Spartans have registered 35 strikeouts while opponents are hitting .313 against the staff …. of York's 30 walks and 10 hit batters, 12 walks have come around to score while a staggering nine of the ten hit batters have come around to hurt the Spartans …. York has managed double figures in hits in all five of their games … York still does not have a triple in five contests … York did not draw a single walk in the loss to the Cougars … York played a clean game defensively as they were not charged with an error for the first time this year … Clark had two triples in the game … York hit three batters in the game for the second time this year.
 
Up Next
York returns to action on Wednesday morning when they face Dean College in a double header in Myrtle Beach. Game on is slated for a 9:00 am start followed by game two at approximately 11:45.