GRANTHAM, PA – The York College baseball squad split the opening two games of their MAC Commonwealth Semifinal series against top seeded Messiah on Friday afternoon in Grantham, PA. The Spartans won game one 11-5 and the Falcons won game two 5-2. The two teams will play the rubber match on Saturday to see who advances to the MAC Commonwealth championship series against the winner of Alvernia and Hood next weekend.
The Spartans are now 21-19 overall while the Falcons stand at 33-9 heading into Saturday's contest.
 
Game One
Runs: York 11 – Messiah 5
Hits: York 17; Messiah 12
Errors: York 2; Messiah 2
LOB: York 13; Messiah 15
WP: Evan Hughes (5-2); LP: Jason Long (7-2); Save: Dillon Michaloski (1)
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans jumped out to an early lead with a three-run first inning. Lucas Prendergast began the game with a double to center. Gabe Trevena made it 1-0 York two batters ito the game as he singled home Prendergast for the lead. After a strikeout, Michael Tinneny blasted a home run to right center to score Trevena and give York the 3-0 advantage.
• The next three half innings featured both teams threatening as there were two runners left on in each of those three half innings. The Spartans tacked a run onto the lead as Brett DeWees ripped a home run down the left field line for the 4-0 lead. Luke Ott got that run back as he led off the Falcons' bottom of the fourth with a solo home run to center.
• Tinneny singled to center with one out in the top of the fifth. After a strikeout, Connor Pickle ripped a triple down the right field line to score Tinneny as the Spartan lead grew to 5-1. The Falcons got that run back on a Dylan Beard RBI single to center in the bottom of the fifth.
• The Spartans took advantage of a big Messiah miscue in the sixth. With two outs, Prendergast hit a high chopper to the first baseman. Joshua Ammons couldn't make the difficult play and was charged with an error. Trevena doubled down the left field line to move Predergast to third. Robby Elzinga singled to short, scoring Prendergast for the 6-2 lead. Tinneny then doubled to right center, scoring Trevena and Elzinga for the 8-2 lead. Chris Betler singled home Tinneny as the lead grew to 9-2. After a Pickle single to third put runners at the corners, the Falcons got out of the frame with a pop up to short. The Spartans got four runs on five hits with the one error.
• The Spartans got a single run in the seventh on an Elzinga RBI single and then got their 11^th run in the eighth as Prendergast was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for an RBI. In the bottom of the ninth, the Falcons got a trio of runs on three hits, two walks and a hit by pitch before the final out was recorded on a ground out to first.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Michael Tinney: 3-for-6, 3 runs, 4 RBI, HR (5), 2B
Lucas Prendergast: 3-for-5, 2 runs, RBI, 2B
Gabe Trevena: 2-for-6, 2 runs, RBI, 2B
Robby Elzinga: 2-for-6, run, 2 RBI
Brett DeWees: 2-for-4, 2 runs, RBI, HR (2), 2B
Chris Betler: 2-for-5, run, RBI, BB
Connor Pickle: 2-for-6, RBI, 3B
 
Spartan Pitching
Evan Hughes: 5.2 IP, 8 hits, 2 runs, 2 ER, 4 K, 3 BB, HB (Win, 5-2)
Dillon Michaloski: 3.1 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 ER, 2 K, 3 BB, HB (Save, 1)
 
Game Two
Runs: York 2 – Messiah 5
Hits: York 9; Messiah 10
Errors: York 1; Messiah 0
LOB: York 8; Messiah 10
WP: Nathan Stein (9-1); LP: Brandon Purdy (3-7); Save: Noah Barrall (5)
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans again jumped on top of the Falcons with a run in the second and one more in the third. In the second, Jacob Deimling singled down the third base line to score Chris Betler from second for the 1-0 lead. In the third, Michael Tinneny homered to center for his sixth home run of the year.
• Spartan starter Brandon Purdy continued is strong run on the mound as he was very good through the first five innings. He had allowed no runs with two hits through the first five innings of the game. The Falcons turned it around in the sixth starting with a walk to Isaiah Parido to begin the frame. A single from Drew Hurst put Falcons at first and second. Purdy got a fly out to center for out number one. Evan Wagaman sigled to score Parido to get the Falcons on the board. Dylan Beard then struck the biggest blow of the game with a three-run homer to left as the Falcons took a 4-2 lead. Luke Ott tacked on an RBI single as the Falcons led 5-2 through seven innings of play.
• The Spartans couldn't get anything going over the final three innings. Robby Elzinga had an eighth inning single while Brett DeWees drew a walk in the ninth but that would not nearly be enough for the Spartans to come back as Messiah evened the series.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Andrew Santarpia: 3-for-4, 2B
Robby Elzinga: 2-for-4
Michael Tinneny: 1-for-4, run, RBI, HR (6)
Chris Betler: 1-for-4, run
Jacob Deimling: 1-for-4, RBI
 
Spartan Pitching
Brandon Purdy: 5.2 IP, 6 hits, 5 runs, 5 ER, 2 K, 2 BB, HB (Loss, 3-7)
Owen Brockner: 2.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB, 2 HB
Dawson Rightenour: 0.1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans are now 2-3 against the Falcons this year but the Spartans lead the all-time series 54-14 … in York's ten doubleheaders, they have recorded six splits … in game one, the Spartans were 11-for-25 with runners on base and 7-for-17 with runners in scoring position … York was 10-for-21 with two outs while they had eight two-out RBI's … York was 0-for-2 with the bases loaded in the opener … in game two, the Spartans were just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and 3-for-12 with two outs … York is hitting .345 (195-for-566) with runners in scoring position for the year … York has 123 two-out RBI for the year … York is now 11-5 when scoring in the first inning and 16-6 when scoring the first run of the game … York is 20-3 when out-hitting their opponent while they are 1-15 when they have less hits than their opponent … Andrew Santarpia now owns the Spartans' longest active hit streak at seven games … Robby Elzinga, Michael Tinneny and Connor Pickle each own current five game hit streaks … Tinneny had his 12^th multi-RBI game with this four in game one … Lucas Prendergast had his team-high 29 game reached base safely streak snapped in game two … Pickle now owns the current longest reached base safely streak with 20 while Elzinga is at 19 games ... in game one, freshmen Evan Hughes and Dillon Michaloski combined to earn the key tournament win.
 
Up Next
The Spartans and Falcons face off on Saturday at 12:00 pm in Grantham, PA. The winner of the game advances to the MAC Commonwealth championship series starting next Friday at the site of the highest remaining seed.