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LANCASTER, PA – Pitcher Matt Metsch (Fr., East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) went 7.2 innings allowing three runs on eight hits and a walk with four strikeouts to improve to 5-0 on the season and lead the Franklin & Marshall College baseball team to an 8-3 win over visiting Gettysburg College in Centennial Conference action at Caplan Field. Relievers Matt Kalos (So., Melrose Park, PA/Cheltenham) and Dan Tischler (So., New York, NY/Horace Mann) finished off the eighth inning and hurled a 1-2-3 inning in the ninth, respectively, to lock up the win as the Diplomats stay half a game behind Johns Hopkins University for first place in the Centennial Conference regular season race. Franklin & Marshall (15-7, 5-1 Centennial Conference) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning as centerfielder Erick Milavsky (Sr., Medford, NJ/Shawnee) doubled home shortstop Tom Miller (So., York, PA/Central York) with one out. Second baseman Rob Stern (So., Franklin Lakes, NJ/Indian Hills) singled to move Milavsky to third base before third baseman Gary Kruger (Sr., East Islip, NY/East Islip) walked to load the bases. First baseman Pat O’Reilly (So., Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) singled to plate Milavsky as the Diplomats gave Metsch an early lead. Gettysburg (10-15, 2-4 Centennial Conference) halved the lead in the fourth as Ben Carey singled to right centerfield and Joe Bonyai reached on an error at second base to put runners on first and second with no outs. Brian Pernice tapped into a 1-6-3 double play to move Carey to third base before Brendan McDonald singled to left field to drive in Carey to cut F&M’s lead to 2-1. The Bullets tied the game in the sixth as Dave Olson led off the inning with a triple to left centerfield and scored two batters later on a single by Bonyai to knot the game at 2-2. F&M broke the game open in the seventh as Frederick singled to third base and Miller reached on a fielder’s choice off a sacrifice bunt attempt to put runners on first and second with no outs. Milavsky sacrificed over Frederick and Miller to put two Diplomats in scoring position and force Gettysburg starting pitcher Brian Spicer from the game. Reliever Christian Force struck out Stern for the second out of the inning, but Kruger lofted a fly ball to the outfield which rightfielder Sean McGee dropped to allow Miller and Frederick to score. O’Reilly singled through the left side of the infield to score Kruger as the Diplomats went ahead 5-2. The Bullets responded in the top of the eighth as Carey doubled to left field and scored on a two out double by Pernice to pull Gettysburg to within 5-3 with a runner on second base. Kalos replaced Metsch on the mound and got McDonald to ground out to end the inning and bring the Diplomats’ bats back to the plate. Facing reliever Brian Koch in the eight, F&M tacked on three runs as designated hitter Jon Compitello (Sr., Yardley, PA/George School) singled and was replaced by pinch runner Jeff Lawrence (So., Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic). Lawrence stole second base and scored on an RBI double by Miller to push the lead to 6-3. Milavsky followed with a triple to center field to score Miller and drive Koch from the game. Pernice entered the game at pitcher and allowed an RBI single by Stern through the left side of the infield to score Milavsky for the 8-3 final. Milavsky led the Diplomats at the plate going two-for-four with two RBI and two runs scored, while Stern finished three-for-five with an RBI, O’Reilly went two-for-four with two RBI and Miller was one-for-three with an RBI and three runs scored.
For Gettysburg, Carey led the Bullets going two-for-three with two runs scored. Spicer took the loss for Gettysburg allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks with five strikeouts.
Franklin & Marshall (15-7, 5-1 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on April 8 at Johns Hopkins University in a Centennial Conference doubleheader. Game one is set for 12:30 p.m.
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