Game 1 Box Score  Game 2 Box Score

COCOA, Fla. – The Gettysburg College baseball team came within four outs of a doubleheader sweep, but Bridgewater State rallied late and the Bullets settled for a split on Day Two of their Spring Break trip to Florida.

Gettysburg (1-5) earned its first win of the season in the opener, when sophomore Matt Karis (Southborough, Mass./Noble & Greenough School) carried a shutout into the seventh inning and finished with an eight-hit complete game as the Bullets recorded a 3-1 victory. Bridgewater State (2-2) trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth in the nightcap, but used a three-run inning to come away with the win.

The Bullets never trailed in the opener after taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Freshman Drew Roy (Needham, Mass./Needham) and senior Scott Vladyka (Stanhope, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) ripped back-to-back singles before Roy scored on an error.

Gettysburg added to its lead in the fourth, when juniors Kevin Langhauser (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) and Craig Barrows (Whippany, N.J./Whippany Park) got on with consecutive singles before Langhauser scored on a wild pitch. Roy capped the Bullets scoring in the fifth, driving in junior Mike Backus (Piscataway, N.J./Immaculata) with a single.

Karis was in control in the early going, allowing just one hit through the first four innings. Brad Koneski led off with a single, but was erased from the basepaths following a 1-3-4-1 caught stealing play. Karis hit a batter with one out in the first, but he retired the next 10 batters, working three-up, three-down innings from the second through the fourth.

The Bears threatened in each of the last three innings, however, when they had seven of their eight hits. But Karis was able to work out jams in each frame. He started an inning-ending, 1-6-3 double play in the fifth, and in the sixth he escaped unscathed after the Bears had runners on second and third with one out, getting a pop-out to himself and a strikeout.

Karis retired the first two batters in the seventh, but Bridgewater refused to go quietly, knocking four straight singles to push across its first run. But with the bases loaded, Karis induced a game-ending flyout to center.

Roy and Langhauser each finished 2-for-3 at the plate for the Bullets. Karis (1-1) struck out four and did not walk a batter while working his second straight complete game.

Gettysburg got on the scoreboard early in the second game, pushing across a run in the top of the first. Sophomore Cam Riera (Medway, Mass./Medway) stroked a one-out double and scored on a Karis single two batters later.

Senior Chris Liegel (Oak Ridge, N.J./Pope John XXIII) was also in command early on, blanking the Bears on two hits through the first four innings. In the top of the fourth, the Bullets extended their lead to 3-0 on one hit and a pair of wild pitches. Gettysburg loaded the bases with nobody out, as Backus led off with a single and Karis and Roy drew back-to-back walks. Backus then scored on a wild pitch before Vladyka plated Karis on a sacrifice fly to right.

Liegel retired nine in a row before No. 8 hitter David Kiloski smacked a solo homer with two outs in the fifth to make it 3-1. Then in the sixth, the Bears led off with back-to-back singles before No. 5 hitter J.T. Mooney tied it up with a two-run triple. Jeff Poupolo followed up with what held up as a game-winning sac fly to center.

The Bullets had the tying run on first in the top of the seventh when sophomore Cory Jackmuff (Woodbury, N.J./West Deptford) reached on a error, but starting pitcher Jeff Sarahs got a strikeout to end the game.

Liegel (0-1) went the distance for Gettysburg and had nearly an identical pitching line as Karis. He also gave up eight hits, struck out four, and did not have any walks. Sarahs finished with a three-hitter, striking out six and walking three.

Gettysburg returns to action on Tuesday, when it hosts SUNY Oneonta in a single nine-inning game at 10 a.m.