WINCHESTER, Va. – No. 8/23 Shenandoah University extended
its baseball winning streak another two games Tuesday afternoon
with a doubleheader sweep over Albertus Magnus.
Shenandoah, 10-3 and winners of seven straight, was a 19-0
winner in the opener before taking game two 25-7.
Albertus Magnus (0-4) made things interesting in the nightcap by
scoring five runs in the first to knock out the Hornets starting
pitcher after just one-third of an inning, but SU answered with
four in the bottom of half the frame to quickly get back in it.
The Falcons scored two more in the top of the second before SU
completely blew things open with eight runs on five hits.
Coach Kevin
Anderson's club added two in the third and fifth before
throwing up a nine-spot on just six hits in the sixth. SU sent 13
men to the plate in the frame.
The offense made a winner of junior Bobby
Stefanowicz, who came on in the middle of the second and
eventually pitched 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Stefanowicz (3-0) gave up just one hit and struck out two before
turning it over to Kyle
Scallion for the seventh.
Senior Scott
Van Dusseldorp led the offensive onslaught with four hits in
five at-bats – he had a three-run HR in the first, an RBI
single in the third and an RBI double in the sixth.
In the opener, Shenandoah jumped all over the Falcons for six
runs on seven hits in the first. Greg
Van Sickler, Van Dusseldorp and Mike
Smith had RBI doubles in the frame. For Van Sickler, it was the
fifth consecutive plate appearance over the past two days in which
he delivered at least one run batted in.
The offense was more than enough for junior Ben
Hendrickson (1-0), who faced just one batter over the minimum
in throwing a complete game one-hitter.
Hendrickson, who allowed a clean single with two outs in the
first for the only Albertus Magnus hit, struck out six and walked
just one in the 7.0 inning performance. At one point, he retired 15
consecutive batters.
For the second consecutive game, all nine SU starters had at
least one hit and the 20 hits is a season-high for the ballclub.
Van Dusseldorp had the biggest day with three hits in four at-bats
including home runs in the second and fourth innings.
Like Van Sickler, Van Dusseldorp drove in a run for five
consecutive at-bats over the last two days. For the afternoon, Van
Dusseldorp was a combined 7 for 9 with 9 RBI, two doubles and three
home runs. His last double, in the sixth inning of game two,
bounced off the top of the fence and came back into the field of
play.
The back-to-back shutouts are also the first for the program in
five years.
The Hornets are off for the next three days before taking on
Methodist on Saturday in Fayetteville in the first of two USA South
Conference games.
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