Power leads Bullets to shutout win over Dickinson

By Sean Brower, Staff Writer

Junior pitcher Rich Power tossed the Bullets to a 3-0 victory over Dickinson.

Junior pitcher Rich Power tossed the Bullets to a 3-0 victory over Dickinson.

Junior pitcher Rich Power tossed 8 1/3 scoreless innings and the Gettysburg baseball team provided him with timely offense and defense, in a 3-0 victory over the Dickinson College Red Devils in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on April 12.

“The first time around the order, we just tried to get everybody with fastballs. Then, the second and third time around, we worked in the off speed pitches and we had some success with it today. [I have to] give a lot of credit to [junior catcher Will Anderson]. He called a great game. I think I only shook him off once,” said Power, who scattered five hits, walked one, and struck out six.

Power’s success on the mound would not have been possible without a strong defense. In the bottom of the seventh, Dickinson senior left fielder Phil Werner led off by hitting a single and was replaced by senior Benn Parker. Two batters later, with one out and first-year second baseman Stephen Sakowicz on first with a walk, junior catcher Rick Hopkins hit a popup to junior shortstop John Convery. Then, he alertly caught Parker standing too far off second and threw to senior Steve Wright to double him up and end the frame.

“I was just trying to keep [Rich] down in the zone, mixing up all his pitches, just trying to get groundball outs, which he did for the most part, and he threw strikes. That’s all you need to do, and he pitched well today, a lot of credit to him,” said Anderson, who completed the last play of Power’s outing by receiving a relay from seniors Andy Kelley and Henry Klimowicz, and tagging out Dickinson senior first baseman Matt Primavera on a close play at the plate.

Power’s pitching and his supporting defense proved vital. Dickinson first-year Ben Rappaport matched Power pitch-for-pitch, lasting 8 2/3 innings, striking out eight Bullets and allowing only one earned run. Gettysburg’s offense did not break through, until the top of the sixth. Sophomore third baseman Logan Sneed and Anderson hit a one out double and was hit by a pitch, respectively. Rappaport then threw a wild pitch to Klimowicz and an error by Hopkins allowed Anderson to come all the way home.

“[Rappaport] had a really nice curveball and he was getting it over for strikes. So I knew I needed to hop on a fastball quickly, and I got a fastball on a 2-0 count, and I was able to drive it to left…this pitcher was pretty good, so we knew we had to steal bases, when we could. Everybody did a good job at that,” said Sneed, who stole second in the top of the fourth, even after being picked off.

The Bullets picked up some insurance in the top of the ninth. With Anderson on third, Kelley on first, and one out, Wright hit a sacrifice fly to center, allowing Anderson to come home and Kelley, who reached second on a passed ball, to advance to third. Senior left fielder Shawn Moffitt then singled to drive home Kelley.

A dramatic and controversial bottom of the inning capped off the game. Relieving Power,

junior Aaron Bezio got first-year designated hitter Ben Carter to pop up, before surrendering a double to Sakowicz, allowing first-year right fielder Alex Jacobson to advance to third.

Then, Hopkins stepped to the plate and hit a high fly ball down the left field line near the fair pole. Watching in anticipation, the Dickinson bench erupted in cheering, believing that Hopkins had hit a game tying home run. However, it was ruled foul. Dickinson head coach Craig Hanson was outraged, charged the umpire, and was ejected. Hopkins then struck out looking to end the game.

“[I’m] very happy that we got the win. Aaron did a nice job closing the door, and we are on the winning side in the standings in the [Centennial] Conference right now. So we are all very happy,” said Power.

The Bullets’ next home games are on Saturday, April 23. Come out to support the Bullets, as they take on the Muhlenberg College Mules in a doubleheader, starting at 12:30 P.M!

 

 

Author: Web Editor

Share This Post On

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *