MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – Penn State Harrisburg baseball completed the season series sweep of Lancaster Bible with a pair of North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) victories over the Chargers on Wednesday afternoon, April 28. The Lions erased an early deficit to win the opener 6-2 before erupting for the team's highest run total of the spring in a 24-2 victory in the nightcap.

GAME 1

After a slow start in the first contest, Penn State Harrisburg came to life in the middle innings and held on for a 6-2 victory over Lancaster Bible. Matt Isaac hit a two-run home run, Bret Williams drove in a pair, and Austin Kunkel earned the win after throwing a complete game.

A couple of errors allowed the visitors to put up a run in the top of the first and another in the top of third. The Lions finally got something going in the bottom of the third, with back-to-back singles from Dallas Hite and Chase Smith putting runners on the corners. Williams worked a walk and as Smith advanced to second, Hite stole home to put the Blue & White on the board.

Maddux Ryan singled to lead off the bottom of the fourth and the Lions took the lead for the first time when Isaac launched a two-run home over the fence in left field, just to the fair side of the left field foul pole. The home team put some distance between itself and LBC in the fifth when a Williams double to left center field plated Hite and Smith, and a single from Matt Parks scored Williams from third.

Kunkel got the heart of the Lancaster Bible lineup to go down quietly in the top of the seventh to put the finishing touches on game one and secure his third win of the spring.

GAME 2

Penn State Harrisburg racked up 19 hits and took advantage of four Lancaster Bible errors en route to a convincing 24-2 victory in the second contest of the conference doubleheader. Dallas Hite hit a grand slam and Bret Williams added a two-run blast, while Hunter Merritt went six-plus innings on the bump.

Like they did in the opener, the Chargers got on the board first thanks to a double that plated a pair of runs in the top of the second. Just like in the opener, however, the home team quickly responded.

Matt Isaac doubled to score Matt Parks and Maddux Ryan in the bottom of the second and Williams gave the Lions a lead they wouldn't relinquish when he launched a two-run home run over the fence in left center field in the bottom of the third.

From there, the onslaught was on, as Penn State Harrisburg put up five runs in the fifth, nine runs in the sixth, another five-spot in the seventh, and one more in the eighth, leaving no doubt in completing the four-game season sweep of the Chargers.  

NOTABLES:

- With the pair of wins, Penn State Harrisburg improved to 21-5 overall and 15-1 in conference play.

- Austin Kunkel turned in a strong performance in game one, throwing a complete game and scattering seven hits while allowing no earned runs.

- Matt Isaac and Dallas Hite had multi-hit openers, with Hite driving in a pair of runs, while Hite scored twice and swiped two bags.

- Bret Williams added a double and two RBI in the first outing.

- Matt Parks went 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored in the nightcap.

- Hite, Chase Smith, Williams, Maddux Ryan, Isaac, and Chris Flynn all had multi-hit outings in the second game.

- Williams' game two home run was his 13th of the season. He also scored four runs in the nightcap.

- Hite drove in four runs thanks to his grand slam in the sixth inning of the second contest.

- Drew Bechtold also racked up four RBI in game two.

- Hunter Merritt had a nice outing in the second game, throwing 6.2 innings and allowing just two runs on five hits and striking out four.

WHO'S NEXT?

The Lions will wrap up the season series with conference foe Wells when they travel to New York on Friday afternoon, April 29.