OWINGS MILLS, MD – The York College baseball team snapped their three game losing streak with a tight 4-3 win over Stevenson University in the opener of a three-game MAC Commonwealth series on Friday in Owings Mills.
All the runs scored in the game were single tallys in the game.
York improves to 16-15 overall and 11-5 in the Commonwealth while the Mustangs fall to 8-25 overall and 3-13 in the league.
 
Runs: York 4 – Stevenson 3
Hits: York 11 – Stevenson 12
Errors: York 2 – Stevenson 1
LOB: York 10 – Stevenson 11
WP: Jason Cassidy (3-2); LP: Jacob Treasure (0-8); Save: Ethan Kennedy (5)
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans kicked off the scoring in the second as Alex Neeld doubled to lead off the frame. He moved to third on a great at-bat by Joe Urban, who grounded out to second to advance Neeld to third. The Spartan designated hitter scored on a Ryan Niedzialkowski sacrifice fly to left for the 1-0 lead.
• York added a single run in the third. Chris Betler singled home Lucas Prendergast for the 2-0 lead. The Green and White tacked on a single run in the fourth. The Spartans loaded the bases with no outs. After a strikeout, Prendergast lifted a sacrifice fly to center for York's third run of the game.
• The Mustangs got to Spartan starter Evan Hughes for a single run in the fourth on a Brady Bedway RBI single to center. They added another run in the sixth. After there were two outs, the Mustangs got back-to-back hits. Stevenson scored a run when the Spartans committed an error on a first and third situation, allowing the Mustangs to score their second run.
• Stevenson got to Hughes in the sixth with an RBI double from Bedway, tying the game at three, forcing Spartan head coach Mike Scappa to go to the bullpen.
• The Spartans took the lead in the top of the seventh inning as Betler started the rally with a one-out single. Neeld doubled to left center to put runners at second and third with one out. The Mustangs went to the bullpen and the first pitch from Jacob Treasure to Joe Urban was blasted down the left field line for what looked like a game-changing three run bomb. Unfortunately for York, the ball was called foul, sending Urban back into the box. Two pitches later, Urban ripped a sacrifice fly to center to score Betler for the 4-3 lead.
• Jason Cassidy, who relieved Hughes in the sixth, walked the lead-off hitter of the seventh but retired the next three Mustangs, maintaining the one-run Spartan lead. Cassidy surrendered a pair of one-out hits in the eighth but Ethan Kennedy came in to snuff out the rally with a pair of strikeouts. Kennedy then shut down the Mustangs in the ninth with a fly out and a pair of strikeouts to earn his fifth save of the year.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Alex Neeld: 2-for-4, 1 run, 2 2B
Chris Betler: 2-for-5, 1 run, RBI
Michael Tinneny: 2-for-5
Ryan Niedzialkowski: 2-for-3, RBI, SF
Lucas Prendergast: 1-for-4, 1 run, RBI, SF
Joe Urban: 1-for-3, 1 run, RBI, SF
 
Spartan Pitching
Evan Hughes: 5.1 IP, 10 hits, 3 runs, 2 ER, 5 K, 1 BB, HB
Jason Cassidy: 2.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 2 K, 1 BB
Ethan Kennedy: 1.2 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 4 K
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans have won 12 straight against the Mustangs and now lead the all-time series 37-11 … York improves to 8-7 on the road … the Spartans are currently 11-5 and sit in third place in the MAC Commonwealth … they are two games back of Alvernia but will face the Golden Wolves in the final league series of the year next weekend … York improves to just 2-4 when scoring between 3-5 runs in a game and are now 2-8 when scoring five runs or less … York is 9-2 when their opponents score between three and five runs … York is now 12-4 when scoring first in a game … York is 2-1 when tied after six innings of play … the Spartans improve to 5-13 when being out-hit by their opponent … the win snaps a three-game losing streak … York had 11 hits, marking the first time they have reached double figures since game two against Messiah … York got drilled by two more pitches as they have now been hit 59 times … Evan Hughes pitched into the sixth inning for the sixth time this year … Hughes has struck out 26 and walked five in his last four outings which have all been wins for York … Jason Cassidy has tossed back-to-back shutout appearances … Cassidy now has six scoreless appearances for the Spartans out of the pen … Ethan Kennedy has been brilliant this season as he now has five saves in his ten appearances … Kennedy has allowed just two earned runs in 10.1 innings of action with 13 strikeouts and one walk … Kennedy struck out a season-high four in Friday's win … York is 9-1 when Kennedy appears in a game …  Michael Tinneny registered his team-leading 16 multi-hit game of the year while Alex Neeld (6), Chris Betler (8), and Ryan Niedzialkowski (6) also had multiple hits … Lucas Prendergast extended his current hit-streak to a team-high nine while Betler owns an eight game streak … Prendergast now owns a 28 game reached base safely streak while Chris Nesensohn owns a 14 game streak of his own.
 
Up Next
The Spartans return to action on Saturday afternoon as these two teams square off in game two and game three of the weekend set. Game one is set for a 12:00 pm start at Jaquet Field in York.