Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score
DANVILLE, Va. – Junior Will Kleva (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) twirled a six-hit shutout in the second game of a doubleheader and the Gettysburg College baseball team salvaged a split at Averett University in non-conference action Saturday afternoon.
The Bullets dropped the opener 5-1 but captured the nightcap, 3-0.
Sophomore Mike Backus (Piscataway, N.J./Immaculata) led Gettysburg (6-7) at the plate, going 4-for-6 with a solo home run. Junior Mike Vladyka (Stanhope, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) added a 3-for-6 performance over the twinbill.
Eric Sibrizzi went 4-for-6 to lead Averett (9-14).
In the opener, Ben Hildreth tossed a six-hit complete-game victory for the Cougars. Backus put the Bullets up 1-0 with his solo shot in the top of the third, but Averett answered with a three-run, four-hit third against starter Chris Liegel (Oak Ridge, N.J./Pope John XXIII). The Cougars set the final score one inning later when No. 9 batter Brad Turner clouted a two-run homer.
Hildreth allowed all but one of his hits over the first three innings. He retired 13 of his final 15 batters, including the final seven. An error in the fourth and a Backus single in the fifth were his only blemishes after the third inning.
Backus and Sibrizzi were each 3-for-3 in the opener.
Liegel (1-2) threw all six innings for Gettysburg, yielding 10 hits while walking one and striking out three. Hildreth fanned four and did not issue a walk.
In the nightcap, the Bullets gave Kleva all the scoring he would need with one run on two hits in the second. Senior Matt Stillitano (Ewing, N.J./The Hun School of Princeton) led off with a double and scored three batters later on a Vladyka single. Gettysburg padded its lead with a two-run, four-hit fifth, getting RBI-singles from senior Sean McGee (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck) and Backus.
Kleva (2-0) worked out of numerous jams, as Averett left seven runners on base. Freshman shortstop Chris Simard (Lexington, Mass./Belmont Hill) bailed out the Bullets in the third, gunning down a runner at the plate trying to score from second on an infield single to end the inning. Then in the fourth, the Cougars had runners on the corners with one out following a triple and an intentional walk. But Kleva escaped with a groundout and flyout.
After a three-up, three-down fifth, Averett threatened again in the sixth and seventh. Ahmed Shelton doubled leading off the sixth and moved to third on a flyout before Kleva induced a pop-out and a groundout. In the seventh, Kleva retired the first two batters before a single and walk had runners on first and second. However, he recorded the final out himself, snatching a pop-up on a bunt from leadoff hitter Adam Higgins.
Kleva walked two and struck out one while notching his first collegiate shutout. Shelton also went the distance for Averett, allowing seven hits and one walk while striking out three.
Vladyka and Shelton were each 2-for-3 in the nightcap.
Gettysburg closes out its four-game series in Virginia when it visits the University of Mary Washington on Sunday in a single nine-inning game starting at 12:30 p.m.
