ELIZABETHTOWN, PA – The York College baseball team captured a wild 10-9 road victory at Elizabethtown College on a brisk Wednesday afternoon in Elizabethtown.
The Spartans jumped out to a 7-1 lead after an inning and a half of play and led 9-4 after four innings. The Blue Jays rallied for a run in the seventh and then forced extras with a four-run eighth. Brendan Martin's RBI single in the tenth won the game for the Green and White.
The Spartan win snapped the Blue Jays' five game win streak.
 
Records: York 5-7; Elizabethtown 7-4
Runs: York 10; Elizabethtown 9
Hits: York 11; Elizabethtown 14
Errors: York 3; Elizabethtown 1
WP: Ethan Kennedy (1-0); LP: Zach Silfies (0-2)
 
How It Happened:
• York got off to a great start without the benefit of hitting the ball around the yard. York's Robby Elzinga opened the game with a walk and proceeded to steal second. Gabe Trevena got the inning's lone hit, a single to right to move Elzinga to third. After a strikeout, Michael Tinneny hit into a fielder's choice scoring Elzinga while Trevena was out at second. Elizabethtown starter Kyle Reader then lost touch with the strike zone as he walked four straight Spartans to push the York lead to 3-0. He fired a wild pitch late in the inning, allowing York to plate a fourth run in the frame.
• The Blue Jays got an unearned run in the bottom of the first as Robbie Bertucio scored on a sacrifice fly from David Woolley.
• York got three more runs in the second as Tinneny had a two-run single to score Elzinga and Trevena. Connor Pickle plated the third run of the inning with an RBI single to right center as the Spartan lead was 7-1.
• The Blue Jays got three runs back with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the second as Bertucio blasted a three-run shot to left center, slicing the York lead to 7-4. York answered the blast with a run in the third on a Jacob Deimling RBI single. They added their ninth run of the game in the fourth as Brendan Martin scored on a Chris Betler RBI single to left. Martin had doubled with one out earlier in the frame.
• Elizabethtown got one run back in the bottom of the seventh as Chance Montgomery hit a solo homer to left. The Blue Jays erupted for four eighth innings run. Quinten Perilli had an RBI single to trim York's lead to 9-6. It looked like York was going to get out of the inning without any more damage but Elizabethtown loaded the bases with two outs. The Blue Jays' AJ Bednar flipped a double to right that cleared the bases and tied the game at nine.
• York had some excitement in the top of the ninth as Elzinga ripped a two-out triple to left center but he would be stranded to end the inning. The Blue Jays got two runners on in bottom of the inning but reliever Ethan Kennedy wiggled out of the jam, forcing the game to extra innings.
• The Spartans loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the tenth. Martin singled to center to give York the 10-9 lead. Blue Jay reliever Zach Silfies got three straight outs to minimize the damage. The Blue Jays got a single to short from Aaron Hess to lead off the inning. He moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a sacrifice bunt. Kennedy got a strikeout and a ground out to second to end the game and earn the win.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Brendan Martin: 3-for-5, 2 runs, 1 RBI, BB, 2B
Robby Elzinga: 2-for-3, 3 runs, 3 BB, 3B, 2 SB
Jacob Deimling: 2-for-5, 1 run, 1 RBI, BB
Michael Tinneny: 1-for-4, 1 run, 3 RBI
Connor Pickle: 1-for-5, 2 RBI, BB
Chris Betler: 1-for-5, 2 RBI, BB
 
Spartan Pitching
Dawson Rightenour: 3.0 IP, 2 hits, 4 runs, 3 ER, 2 K, 2 BB, 2 WP, 4 HB
Ryan Kulick: 3.2 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 1 K, 1 BB, WP, 1 HB
Yandel Tolentino: 0.2 IP, 3 hits, 4 runs, 0 ER, 2 K, 1 BB
Ethan Kennedy: 2.2 IP, 4 hits, 0 R, 4 K, 1 WP
 
Spartan Notes
York is now 31-23-1 all-time against the Blue Jays as the Spartans have won four straight in the series … York is now 2-0 in extra innings for the year … the Spartans made another three errors as they now have 24 for the year … those miscues led to another five unearned runs as York has now allowed 27 unearned runs for the year … 31% of the Spartan runs allowed this year are unearned … the Spartan pitching staff tied their season high with nine strikeouts matching game two of the Manchester series … the two Elizabethtown home runs were the first ones allowed by the Spartan pitching staff since the March 1 home opener against Rutgers-Camden … York plunked a season-high five batters … after getting shutout by Messiah the Spartans have scored a combined 21 runs in their last two games … York drew a season-high eight walks while they were hit by four pitches … the Spartans swiped a season-high five stolen bases … York is now 16-for-18 in stolen bases for the year … Robby Elzinga has drawn a team-leading 13 walks as boasts a team-best .525 on-base percentage while he also has six stolen bases … senior Brendan Martin is a combined 6-for-8 with three runs, three doubles and three RBI in his last two games … Martin has banged out a season-high three hits in three different games this year … Martin has seven multi-hit games this season … Ryan Kulick had another strong outing as he tossed 3.2 innings, allowing just one run with a walk and a strikeout … after giving up 17 runs (11 earned) in his first 6.2 innings of work, reliever Ethan Kennedy has been brilliant over his last five outings as he not allowed a run in his last eight innings of work … Kennedy got a save in Saturday's game two win over Messiah and came out of the pen today, tossing the final 2.2 innings as he didn't allow a run and struck out four for the win.
 
Up Next
The Spartans return home for the start of their second MAC Commonwealth series of the year as they host Albright on Friday afternoon. First pitch from Jaquet Field is set for 3:30 pm.