Box Score

VERO BEACH, Fla. – Junior Matt Karis struck out 12 batters over eight innings while senior Mike Backus belted a triple and a home run while going over 100 career RBIs as the Gettysburg College baseball team defeated Central (Iowa) College 11-5 in the final game of the team's Spring Break trip to Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla.

Gettysburg (5-4) won its fourth straight game and finished 5-2 on its southern swing. The Bullets continued to light up the scoreboard, ripping 17 hits for the game and finishing with 40 runs on 54 hits over their final three contests.

Karis (1-1) earned his first win of the season with one of the top performances of his career, holding the Dutch (4-1) to one run on seven hits while doubling his career-high strikeout total. He was also 2-for-4 at the plate.

Backus went over the career 100-RBI mark with a three-run homer in the top of the eighth that put his team ahead 11-1. He is only the sixth player in school history to reach the mark and is just nine shy of the school record of 110 held by Joe Bonyai '07.

Gettysburg never trailed after scoring three runs in the top of the first. Karis blanked the Dutch through the first five innings, and the Bullets went ahead 6-0 with a two-run sixth. Central scored its only run off Karis in the sixth before Gettysburg piled on five more runs over the final three innings.

The Dutch set the final score with three unearned runs in the bottom of the ninth of junior reliever Kyle Conklin.

Junior Chris Simard also had a big game at the plate, going 4-for-5 to set a career-high for hits. Senior Kevin Langhauser was 3-for-4 while junior Cam Riera and sophomore Augie Stadtmueller had two hits apiece.

The Bullets are scheduled to play their home opener on Tuesday with a non-conference game against Penn State Harrisburg starting at 3:30 p.m.