YORK, PA – The York College baseball team got a walk off hit by pitch as the Spartans earned a come-from-behind 5-4 home win over #18 Rowan University on Tuesday.
The Spartans snapped a four-game losing streak to the Profs and earned their first regular season win over a nationally ranked team this year.
 
Records: York 17-14; #18 Rowan 21-9
Runs: York 5; Rowan 4
Hits: York 10; Rowan 9
Errors: York 0; Rowan 2
WP: AJ Vincenzi (2-1); LP: Christian Bascunan (1-1)
 
How It Happened
• The Profs jumped on the Spartans in the the top of the second inning. Ryan Murphy began the inning with a single to center. After a fly out, Jason Morgan singled to center to move Murphy to third with one out. Rowan catcher Brian Gallante attempted to safety squeeze in the game's first run but Spartan pitcher Yandel Tolentino made an athletic play to scoop up the bunt, hold the runner and get the second out of the inning. Unfortunately, Rowan's Chris Curcio blasted a three-run homer left center as the Profs took a 3-0 lead.
• The Profs added to the lead in the top of the third as Murphy crushed a solo homer to deep left as it looked like Rowan was going to blow the Spartans out. The Spartans got on the board in the bottom of the third as Lucas Prendergast doubled to right and then scored on a Robby Elzinga single to center, cutting the Rowan lead to 4-1.
• It would stay 4-1 until the bottom of the fifth when York struck for a pair of runs. The first run came courtesy of a Brian Jakubek sacrifice fly to left. Elzinga followed with his second RBI single of the game as the Spartans got to within one run at 4-3.
• The Spartans loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth but would be unable to push the tying run across the dish. The Profs had a chance to extend their lead in the ninth as they had runners at second and third with one out. With the infield drawn in, Spartan reliever AJ Vincenzi got a great defensive play from second baseman Gabe Trevena to keep the deficit at one. Vincenzi then got a foul out to Jakubek behind the dish to get out of the inning, giving York a chance in the ninth.
• The Profs went to their closer Christian Bascunan in the ninth and he was greeted by a Prendergast single to center to lead off the inning. Jakubek switched spots with Prendergast as he hit into a fielder's choice for the first out of the inning. Garrett Kile pinch ran for Jakubek and moved to second when Elzinga drew a walk. Trevena loaded the bases with an infield hit that he banged off the plate and bounced over Basunan's head into no man's land for the hit. The Spartans tied the game when Michael Tinneny drew a walk to score Kile. Santarpia then won the game when he got hit by a 1-2 pitch to score Elzinga with the winning run.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Robby Elzinga: 2-for-4, 1 run, 2 RBI, BB
Andrew Santarpia: 2-for-4, RBI, HBP
Lucas Prendergast: 2-for-2, 2 runs, BB, 2B
Gabe Trevena: 1-for-4, BB
 
Spartan Pitching
Yandel Tolentino: 4.0 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 0 K, 1 BB, 1 HB
AJ Vincenzi: 5.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs, 2 K, 2 BB
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans are now 11-17 all-time against Rowan as York snapped a four-game losing streak to the Profs … York's last win against Rowan came on April 22, 2015 at Jaquet Field when the Spartans posted a 12-9 win … that game featured 21 runs, 29 hits and 11 combined errors as the Spartans scored three runs in the seventh and five more in the eighth to down the #22 Profs … freshman Lucas Prendergast extended his current hit streak to six … Michael Tinneny extended his streak of reaching base safely to a team-high nine games while Andrew Santarpia's streak is seven and Prendergast's is at six … Robby Elzinga now has a team-leading six games with two RBI while he has eight games with multiple RBIs … sophomore Yandel Tolentino made his first career start after 18 appearances out of the pen to start his career … Tolentino allowed four runs on six hits in his four innings of work … senior AJ Vincenzi came out of the pen to record the win as he tossed five shutout innings as he scattered three hits with two strikeouts and two walks … the win is Vincenzi's second this year and 11^th of his career … Tolentino and Vincenzi held the Profs scoreless over the final six innings of the game ... York improves to 8-5 at Jaquet Field as they have won three straight at home … York is now 4-5 against left handed starters for the year … the Spartans are now 7-1 in one-run games … York picked up its first win of the year when trailing after eight innings … the Spartans are now 6-2 when playing a clean defensive game and not committing an error … York is now 1-5 against nationally ranked squads this year.
 
Up Next
The Spartans open up a critical MAC Commonwealth series on Friday afternoon as they host Lebanon Valley College in a single game at Jaquet Field. The Dutchmen enter the series sitting in first place in the Commonwealth while the Spartans are two games back in second place. First pitch on Friday from Jaquet Field is set for 3:30 pm.