WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.—Sophomore second baseman
Kaden Shay (South Williamsport, Pa. / South Williamsport Area) stroked a two-run double in the second inning, then junior right-hander
Alex Halbert (Laurel, Md. / Atholton) and three relievers made it stand up as the Lycoming College baseball team nipped Juniata College, 2-0, on a blustery Saturday, March 28 at Brandon Park.
Lycoming (11-11, 4-5 Landmark) moved back to .500 on the season with their third consecutive victory, blanking Juniata (7-10, 2-7 Landmark) on six hits for the Warriors' fifth shutout victory of the season.
The decisive blow came early for the Warriors, with junior
Anthony Guzman (Inglewood, Calif. / Paramount) drawing a walk and senior
Josh Bottger (Wilkes-Barre, Pa. / Wilkes-Barre Area) singling to start the second. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position for Shay, who sliced a double to left-center, scoring both runners for a 2-0 lead.
With the lead, Halbert didn't post any clean innings, but effectively navigated traffic, including working around two hits in the fourth with an inning-ending double play. His biggest task was his final one, as Juniata loaded the bases in the sixth, but the right-hander induced a pop-up to end the inning and his outing.
Sophomore right-hander
Lex Nelsen (Freehold, N.J. / Freehold Township) came on and spun a 1-2-3 seventh, then two errors behing senior
Joel Inman (Berlin, N.J. / Eastern Regional)
jeopardized the Warriors in the eighth, but senior
Grayson Rinker (Jersey Shore, Pa. / Montoursville Area) got out of the jam, then navigated around two more runners in ninth to secure a four-out save.
Shay led the Lycoming with two hits and two RBI. On the hill, Halbert (4-0) stayed perfect on the year by working six scoreless innings, allowing no runs on six hits and two walks. Nelsen fanned one in a scoreless inning, while Inman walked one in 2/3 of an inning and Rinker earned his first save of the year with 1 1/3 scoreless innings, navigating around a walk and a hit batter.
Braelan Huber threw 5.0 innings of two-run ball for the Eagles, who also received a hit and two walks from Ethan Pfeiffer.
Lycoming will return to action tomorrow, Sunday, March 29 for a doubleheader to wrap up the series. The Warriors and Eagles will begin the twinbill at noon from Brandon Park.
