YORK, Pa. – The Gallaudet University
baseball team jumped out to a 2-0 lead over York (Pa.) College on
Wednesday afternoon on the road at Jaquet Field. The lead
didn't hold as the Spartans erupted for 10 runs in the fifth
inning en route to the 20-4 victory in the final Capital Athletic
Conference (CAC) road game for the Bison.
Gallaudet (0-20, 0-14 CAC), a founding member of the CAC, is
leaving the conference after this season and will join the North
Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) this summer. GU has four more
conference games to play at home before the Bison play several
non-conference games to end the season in late April.
Junior Zane Noschese (Pittsburgh, Pa.) led off
the game with a single to right-center field. He moved up two bases
after a failed pick-off attempt. Two batters later, sophomore
Jeremy Shepps (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) drove in
Noschese with a RBI double to center field. Freshman Yuri
Johnston (Greensboro, N.C.) drew a walk with two outs to
prolong the inning. GU then pulled off a double steal as Johnston
swiped second base and Shepps dashed home to put the Bison up 2-0.
Junior second baseman Kyle Kuschmider (Olathe,
Kan.) earned a walk and Johnston got to third base but was stranded
there.
In the bottom of the first inning York shortstop Rick Shumway
blasted a home run to left-center field to cut the GU lead to one,
2-1. The Spartan bats came alive in the bottom of the second inning
as they hit two doubles, a triple, a single and two walks as York
(11-9, 7-5 CAC) scored five runs. York scored at least one run in
every inning but the third and seventh innings.
Noschese (0-1) took the loss as he pitched four and a third
innings and allowed 16 runs (15 earned) on 14 hits while he walked
four, hit two, threw two wild pitches and struck out two batters.
Freshman Peter Leccese (North Bellmore, N.Y.) and
junior Chester Kuschmider (Olathe, Kan.) pitched
the final three innings.
York starting pitcher Jeff Benchich (1-0) earned the win as he
pitched five innings and allowed two runs on four hits, walked two
and struck out two Bison.
GU added two more runs in the top of the eighth inning.
Sophomore Ryan Hastings (Cherry Valley, Mass.) and
Johnston scored the runs. Chester Kuschmider drove in Johnston on a
RBI single.
This was the second game for the Bison today as Gallaudet
traveled to Penn State-Berks earlier in the day play two innings to
complete a suspended doubleheader from March 8.
GU will next host Stevenson University on Thursday, April 1, at
2:30 p.m. at Hoy Field for a CAC doubleheader. This twin bill was
originally slated to be played at Stevenson's field but the
game got postponed and rescheduled to be played at Gallaudet.
