Box Score

CARLISLE, Pa. – Juniors Rich Power (Toms River, N.J./Monsignor Donovan) and Aaron Bezio (Stafford, Va./Mountain View) combined for a six-hit shutout, leading the Gettysburg College baseball team to a 3-0 Centennial Conference (CC) victory at Dickinson College Tuesday afternoon.
 
Power (5-2) threw an outstanding game for the Bullets (17-10, 3-2 CC), blanking the Red Devils for 8 1/3 innings in his longest outing of the season. He scattered five hits, walked one, and struck out six.
 
Power worked out of trouble in the seventh and eighth, when Dickinson had a runner in scoring position in both frames. The Devils threatened again in a dramatic ninth, but Bezio came on to get the final two outs of the game, earning his second save of the year.
 
Sophomore Logan Sneed (Newtown, Pa./Germantown Academy) finished 2-for-4 with a double for the Bullets, who led just 1-0 heading into the ninth before adding a pair of insurance runs.
 
Freshman Ben Rappaport (2-2) also pitched well for Dickinson (15-12, 2-5 CC), throwing 8 2/3 innings and striking out eight.
 
It was a pitcher's duel early on between Power and Rappaport, with each tossing five shutout innings to start the game. Power escaped danger in the second, third, and fifth, stranding a runner on second in each inning.
 
The Bullets broke through in the sixth, when Sneed roped a one-out double. Junior Will Anderson (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) was then hit with a pitch before Rappaport threw a ball in the dirt that catcher Rick Hopkins blocked in front of the plate. With both runners attempting to advance, Hopkins tried to throw out Anderson at second; however, his throw sailed into centerfield, allowing Sneed to score, giving the Orange and Blue a 1-0 lead.
 
Power worked a three-up, three-down sixth before running into a jam in the seventh. The Red Devils had the go-ahead run on base following a leadoff single, a sacrifice but, and a walk, but Power induced a pop-out to shortstop John Convery (Media, Pa./Penncrest). It turned into an inning-ending double play when Convery tossed the ball to second for the third out after the runner on second had bolted for third.
 
Dickinson appeared to have something going again in the eighth, when Power hit the No. 9 batter. A wild pitch moved the runner to second, but the leadoff batter popped up an attempted sacrifice bunt to Power for the first out. Power coaxed another pop-out before striking out the No. 3 hitter to end the inning.
 
In the top of the ninth, Anderson got things going with a leadoff double before senior Andy Kelley (Newtown, Conn./Newtown) drew a one-out walk. Senior Steve Wright (Holland, Pa./Council Rock South) would score Anderson with a sacrifice fly before Kelley came around to score on a single from senior Shawn Moffitt (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East), chasing Rappaport.
 
Dickinson would not go quietly, however, and cleanup hitter Matt Primavera reached second on an outfield error leading off the bottom of the ninth. The next batter singled into right, but Kelley fired in a strong throw that was cut off but first baseman Henry Klimowicz (Allenhurst, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy), who gunned down Primavera at the plate with the relay.
 
Bezio was then summoned out of the bullpen, and after getting a pop-out, Stephen Sakowicz doubled to put runners on second and third. Hopkins then launched what was nearly a game-tying three-run homer down the leftfield line, but the ball was ruled to have sailed just foul. Bezio would then strike out Hopkins looking to end the game.
 
The two teams wrap up their season series on Friday, when they meet in Gettysburg for another nine-inning game starting at 3:30 p.m.