AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Albright Lions baseball team (4-10, 1-4 MACC) rallied but fell short in a 5-4 loss to the Stevenson Mustangs (10-6, 4-2 MACC) on Saturday morning at Lake Myrtle Field in Auburndale.
Albright trailed 5-0 and was able to close within run at 5-4 in the sixth, but that was the closest they would get.
In the top of the sixth, the Lions had two men on in scoring position with one away and freshman
Josh Jacavage delivered a two-run single to cut the lead to 5-4. Following a
Jack Shevlin single, there were runners at the corners with still one out, but Stevenson's Tyler Graham got
Jimmie Gentry to ground into a 6-3 double play to end the inning.
Graham (2-0) gave up four runs (two earned) on eight hits while walking one and fanning three in six innings of work to record the win for the Mustangs. Three different relievers combined to close it out and James Wiercinski got the final three outs to notch his first save. Junior
Matt Fisher (0-2) was dealt the loss for Albright after allowing five runs on nine hits in two innings.
Stevenson opened the scoring in the first as Kevin Murray led off with a single, went to third on a single and scored when Matt Kerber grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. The Mustangs tacked on four more runs in the second to make it a 5-0 game as Zach DeLong delivered a two-run double and Murray added an RBI single in the frame. A pair of singles started things for the Lions in the top of the third and a throwing error put runners at the corners before senior
Joe Suppa plated a run via an RBI groundout and junior
Logan Adams followed two batters later with an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-2.
Trailing 5-4 in the ninth, Gentry drew a leadoff walk and moved into scoring position on a
Logan Pennypacker sac bunt but Wiercinski got a popout and a flyout to end the game.
Adams (3-4, RBI, R) and freshman
Jeremy Brubaker (2-4, R) both delivered multi-hit games for head coach Jeff Feiler's squad, while junior
Shaun O'Reilly (5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 K) and senior
Daron Pijanowski (1.0 IP, H) combined to toss six scoreless frames in relief. O'Reilly has now tossed 13 consecutive scoreless innings over his last two outings.
Albright returns home to host Lebanon Valley in MAC Commonwealth action on Monday afternoon. First pitch from Kelchner Field is set for 3:30 p.m.