Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score
NEW PORT RITCHEY, Fla. – Juniors Chris Liegel (Oak Ridge, N.J./Pope John XXIII) and Will Kleva (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) pitched Gettysburg to a pair of victories as the Bullets swept Rockford College in their season opener Sunday afternoon, kicking off the team's Spring Break trip to Florida.
Gettysburg won the opener 6-4 as Liegel scattered 11 hits over 6 2/3 innings. Kleva recorded the final out to pick up the save in Game One, then tossed a five-hitter to lift the Bullets to a 5-4 win in the nightcap.
Sophomore Mike Backus (Piscataway, N.J./Immaculata) drilled a grand slam to break open Game Two.
In the opener, Gettysburg led 4-1 before the Regents tied it up with a three-run, three-hit fifth. However, the Bullets went ahead to stay with single runs in the bottom of the fifth and sixth. Senior Matt Stillitano (Ewing, N.J./The Hun School of Princeton) drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the fifth.
Rockford threatened in the seventh, putting runners on first and second after a pair of singles. But Kleva put out the fire, getting a game-ending line-out to left.
Stilitano finished 2-for-2 with a double in Game One for Gettysburg, which was out-hit 11-6. Liegel struck out three and walked one.
Backus clouted his grand slam, the first of his collegiate career, with two out in the second to give the Bullets a 5-0 lead. Sophomore Cory Beddick (Columbia, Pa./Hempfield) worked a two-out walk before senior Sean McGee (Mammaroneck, N.Y./Mammaroneck) reached on an error. Junior Scott Vladyka (Stanhope, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) then reached on an infield single, setting up Backus' blast.
The Regents answered with four unanswered runs in the bottom of the third on four hits and one error. But Kleva was in a groove the rest of the way, no-hitting Rockford over the final four innings while retiring 13 of the final 14 batters he faced.
Backus and McGee each went 3-for-4 at the plate, and Backus finished with five RBIs. McGee also scored a pair of runs.
Gettysburg continues its 10-game trip on Monday, when it takes on Maryville in a doubleheader starting at 10 a.m.
