The Elizabethtown College baseball team left 14 runners on base Monday, Feb. 26, in a 9-5 season-opening loss to non-conference opponent Arcadia University.
The game was played at DeVincent Field at LaSalle University in Philadelphia. The Blue Jays pressured Arcadia early when back-to-back singles from juniors Anthony Knight and James Kantner had them in business in the top of the second. Junior Taggart Hess added a single to load the bases before sophomore Riley McGinley reached on an error by Arcadia shortstop Josh Fulmer, allowing Knight and Kantner to score.
Etown grabbed one more in the inning when Hess scored on a walk to sophomore Derek Manning in four straight pitches with the bases loaded. Arcadia then forced a popup to end the inning and escape the bases loaded jam.
Down 3-0, the Knights jumped on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly by Luke Hohenstein that followed a leadoff triple by Bryan Gillen. Arcadia then added four runs in the fifth after a 1-2-3 top half. These runs came off of four singles in the inning and one hit by pitch.
The Jays picked up another run in the sixth when senior Nick Lorenz tripled down the right field line, plating senior Colby Smith, who previously reached on a walk. Lorenz was then left at third as a fly out ended the frame.
Arcadia added a run to their total in the bottom half of the inning when Fulmer scored on a failed pickoff attempt to first baseman Brennan Snyder from reliever Braden Stinar.
The Jays then left two runners on base in both the seventh and eighth innings, in the latter of which they allowed three runs from the Knights. A walk and a hit by pitch from Stinar set the stage for a two-run triple from Fulmer down the left field line, plating Drew Coisson and Nick Ponente. Stinar was then replaced by sophomore Andrew Brndjar, who finished out the eighth for Etown.
It was a tough day for the Jays in terms of runners left on base, but left fielder senior Derek Manning remains confident.
“Arcadia put some solid offensive innings together after we initially did. We were still getting runners on base, but couldn’t string anything together to open things up,” he said, “Overall, I think we have a lot of positives to build off of as we move forward this season, this just being our first game of a long year ahead.”
The rest of the Blue Jays showed that confidence as they went down fighting, adding one in the ninth when Snyder doubled to left center and was hit in by Knight.
Despite a strong start, the Blue Jays failed to keep up with their lead as senior Anthony Lippy, who pitched five and a third innings, allowed nine hits, six runs (five earned runs) and zero walks. Stinar pitched two innings, allowing two hits, two runs and a walk. Brndjar pitched two-thirds shutout innings and, despite the loss, was glad to be back on the diamond.
“It felt good to be back outside throwing for the Jays,” Brndjar said. “It was nice to be on the mound again with a strong team behind me, and I’m looking forward to another good season.”
The Blue Jays are heading to the Florida coast over spring break for spring training games, where they’ll play eight games in Fort Pierce. They start this stretch Sunday, March 4, against Penn State Behrend.
After spring break the Blue Jays will play Penn State Harrisburg back on home turf at the Kevin Scott Boyd Stadium.
