Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 By Sam Armstrong
HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Southern Virginia University baseball team continued conference play on Saturday, splitting a double-header with Penn St.-Harrisburg. The Knights lost the first game 10-4, but won the second 6-2.
Game one was rough from the start for the Knights (10-11, 2-4 CAC), as the Nittany Lions (16-5, 2-1 CAC) scored eight unanswered runs over the first three innings. Southern Virginia scored in the fifth inning and again in the sixth, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit as they lost 10-4.
Six different Knights gathered hits on the game, with Jordan Keefer and Bridger Taylor leading the cause with two apiece. Kyle Hussein came through in a pinch-hitting situation in the ninth, driving in two runs on a single.
Seth Burris struggled on the mound, giving up five runs on five hits over two innings. Matt Roll pitched a perfect two innings later in the game, allowing no hits and striking out one.
The tables turned in the second game of the day with the Knights jumping out to a three-run lead in the first inning, and extending it to 5-0 by the fifth. The Nittany Lions tried to claw their way back into the game by scoring two runs in the seventh, but Southern Virginia added an insurance run in the ninth to close out the 6-2 win.
After giving up only three hits and no runs in eight innings last week against Salisbury, Tayler Peterson matched that performance on Saturday by allowing only two hits and no runs in six innings against the powerful Nittany Lion offense. He also struck out four and picked up his third win of the season.
After Jonathan Hodges pitched an inning, Jonathan Soto threw the last two, striking out three batters. The two runs are the lowest scoring total for Penn St.-Harrisburg all season.
The bats also picked up in game two with the Knights tallying twelve hits as a team, including three from first baseman Cole Critchfield, as Brady Lamb, Ryan Saunders, Dalin Stanton, and Nate McCallum each had two. Stanton led the team with three RBIs, while McCallum had two and Saunders had one.
The Knights return home on Wednesday as they look to take down No. 9 Christopher Newport. First pitch is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. at Parry McCluer High School.
