Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Susquehanna University piled up 20 hits and the Crusaders defeated Gettysburg 21-9 in non-conference baseball action Thursday afternoon at a sunny, blustery Kirchhoff Field.
All but one starter picked up at least one hit for the Crusaders (7-6), who batted around in two different innings. The Bullets (7-9) were also hurt by a season-high seven errors, the first five of which resulted in Susquehanna's first six runs being unearned.
Don Kirkland went 5-for-6 with two doubles, a triple, and four RBIs to lead the Crusaders while Chris Price was 3-for-5 with three doubles and five RBIs. Brian Ahearn drove in four runs for the visitors while Tyler Reichard scored four times.
Gettysburg received a 2-for-4 day at the plate from senior centerfielder Sean McGee (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck) and freshman shortstop Chris Simard (Lexington, Mass./Belmont Hill). McGee scored two runs while Simard had a pair of RBIs.
Susquehanna never trailed after pushing across an unearned run in the top of the first. The Crusaders went ahead 5-1 after a four-run, three-hit third before Gettysburg came back with one run in the bottom of the frame on a RBI-double from Simard, making it 5-2.
A six-run sixth in which the Crusaders sent 10 batters to the plate made it 12-3, but Gettysburg scored three times in the bottom of the inning to make it a six-run game. Junior Andrew Burton (McLean, Va./McLean) knocked in two runs with a two-out single.
The Crusaders broke it open in the eighth, however, scoring eight times on six hits, four walks, and a hit batsman while sending 15 hitters to the plate.
Freshman Cory Jackmuff (Woodbury, N.J./West Deptford) picked up his first collegiate hit and RBI in the eighth with a run-scoring single before classmate Jeff Kaczmarczyk (Newark, Del./St. Mark's) collected his first career RBI on a ninth-inning double.
Sophomore Derek Zaleski (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield) started on the mound for the Bullets and suffered the loss despite allowing no earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. Zaleski (2-2) gave up six hits and walked two.
Kevin Riordan (2-1) earned the win for Susquehanna, throwing the first six innings while yielding six runs on eights hits. He walked one and struck out one. Keith Needham threw the final three innings to pick up the save. He was charged with three runs on four hits.
Gettysburg continues its five-game homestand on Friday, when it hosts Ithaca College at noon in another non-conference outing.
