HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Shenandoah University baseball team bounced back from its weekend series against Ferrum with an impressive 11–4 win over the No. 12-ranked Penn State Harrisburg Lions on Monday. The Hornets (21–12, 11–6 ODAC) jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, scoring three runs in the first, two in the second, and adding three more in both the fifth and eighth innings.
Kyle Garrett and Haden Madagan paced the offense, each going 2-for-3. Garrett scored three runs, drove in two, walked twice, and hit a home run. Madagan added three RBIs, including a home run of his own. Anthony Arrichiello also homered and drove in three runs. Jaime Padilla added a triple to round out the extra-base hits.
Nick Bell started on the mound, pitching the first two innings. Blaine Griffin followed with 3.2 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just two hits and striking out three to earn the win. Jake Holbert went the next .2 innings before Orion Marshall went .2 innings. Liam Stewart closed the game with two dominant innings, striking out five.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hornets struck quickly in the top of the first. Jaime Padilla led off with a triple, and Kyle Garrett walked to put runners on the corners. Noah Cornwell singled to score Padilla, and after Brody Pickette moved Garrett to third with a fly out, Connor Houser added a sacrifice fly to make it 2–0. Cornwell, who had advanced to second on a balk, scored on Madagan's single to extend the lead to 3–0.
Harrisburg responded in the bottom of the inning with a lead off home run, followed by a single and a double to put two runners in scoring position. A sacrifice fly made it 3–2, but Bell escaped the inning with a fielder's choice.
In the second, Padilla was hit by a pitch with two outs, and Garrett followed with a two-run homer to left, making it 5–2. Bell worked around a two-out walk in the bottom half before yielding to Griffin in the third.
Griffin was sharp in relief, retiring the Lions in order in both the third and fourth innings. The Hornets loaded the bases in the third, but came up empty after a pair of flyouts ended the threat.
In the fifth, Pickette reached on an error and Houser walked. Madagan sacrificed both into scoring position, and after a fielder's choice, Arrichiello drilled a three-run home run to right, extending the lead to 8–2. Griffin worked a clean bottom half, his third straight perfect inning.
Griffin returned in the sixth and struck out the first batter before allowing two singles. A ground out moved both runners into scoring position, and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases. Holbert came on and induced an out to end the threat.
Harrisburg scratched across a run in the seventh after Holbert hit the lead off batter. He recorded one out before being relieved by Orion Marshall, who struck out the first batter he faced. A stolen base and an RBI single made it 8–3, but Marshall limited the damage.
Shenandoah added three more in the eighth. Garrett led off with a single, and Cornwell reached on an error as he attempted to sacrifice. Pickette hit a sacrifice fly to score Garrett, and Madagan followed with a two-run homer to left, making it 11–3.
Liam Stewart pitched the final two innings. Despite allowing a single, a walk, and two hit batters that brought in a run in the eighth, Stewart settled in and struck out the side in the ninth, working around a fielding error.
UP NEXT
Shenandoah is off for the remainder of the week before returning to ODAC play on Saturday with a road doubleheader at Roanoke College.
#GoSUHornets
