Baseball gives up early lead and falls 9-4 to Bullets

HUNTINGDON, PA. – Juniata College baseball led Gettysburg College 4-3 heading into the sixth inning, but four Gettysburg runs in the sixth proved to be too much for Juniata, as the Eagles fell 9-4 at Langdon-Goodale Field Wednesday afternoon.

Juniata (11-23) posted two runs to respond to the Bullets one mark in the first getting started from a Ben Mersky (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) walk. Mersky stole second and scored off a Brad Medellin (Lewisberry, Pa./Red Land) grounder that was mishandled at first. A couple of batters later, sophomore Joe Sforza (Pittstown, N.J./Immaculata) singled to right field allowing Medellin to score. 

The Eagles managed to blank Gettysburg (9-10) in the second and third innings, as Juniata tacked on one more run in the second. Chase Dykstra (Somerset, Pa./Somerset Area) reached on a third base throwing error and advanced to second, and a Mersky single up the middle allowed Dykstra to cross the plate.

Juniata's last run of the game came in the fourth when senior Thomas Eck (Columbia, Pa./Lancaster Catholic) was hit by a pitch and was moved into scoring position from a senior Matt Fritz (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) sacrifice bunt. Another Mersky single up the middle scored Eck, marking Mersky's second hit of the game as well as his second RBI.

The only other Eagle to notch multiple hits was Medellin, who singled in the first and added another base hit in the seventh. 

Sophomore Ryan Morrison (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon Catholic) pitched five complete innings for the Eagles and ran into trouble in the sixth when he walked three straight Bullets. Morrison struck out two batters and gave up six runs. 

Justin Miller (Bellwood, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) made an appearance in the sixth, but was unable to log an out. Nathan Strom (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria) entered the game in the sixth and fanned one batter and forced a double play to end the inning. Strom pitched a total of three innings and allowed two runs on four hits.

Andrew Groninger (McAlisterville, Pa./East Juniata) closed the game for Juniata and faced five batters and didn't allow a single Gettysburg run.

Juniata travels to Pitt-Bradford for a Friday, April 27, double header. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

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