WESTMINSTER, Md. – Sophomore Joe Giovinco (Stirling, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) finished 5-for-5 and tied the school record for hits in a game, but the Gettysburg College baseball team lost by a 9-5 count at McDaniel in a Centennial Conference match-up on Wednesday.
 
Gettysburg (10-21, 4-11 CC) led 4-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth before McDaniel (11-16, 4-11 CC) pulled ahead with seven runs over the next three innings. The Bullets threatened in the bottom of the ninth, scoring a run and loading the bases with two outs, but Robbie Mays struck out the final batter to finish with a 15-hit complete game.
 
Giovinco also scored two runs, drove in two runs, and stole a pair of bases. He became the second Bullet to tie Gettysburg's single-game hits record this season, as sophomore Ryan LaCoe (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) went 5-for-6 in a loss to Johns Hopkins back on April 10.
 
Freshman Matt Szczesny (Schwenksville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) added a 4-for-5 day at the plate for the Bullets, marking his season-high for hits in a game.
 
The contest featured a combined 31 hits, with both teams leaving 12 runners on base.
 
The Bullets jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first, when senior Chuck Probst (North Bend, Pa./Bucktail), Giovinco, and freshman Sean Murphy (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) each roped an RBI-single. The Green Terror answered with a run in the bottom of the inning versus junior Brendan Wright (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley), who was making his first career start on the mound.
 
McDaniel pulled to within a run in the third, when Wright left the game after throwing 2 1/3 innings. He gave up two runs on one hit and four walks while striking out four.
 
Gettysburg went ahead 4-2 in the sixth, when Giovinco led off with a single, stole second, and eventually scored on a groundout. But the Terror answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning, when it smacked six straight hits with two outs to assume a 6-4 lead. McDaniel opened up some breathing room with a three-run double in the eighth.
 
Mays recorded the first two outs in the ninth before the Bullets started their rally. Freshman Patrick McDermott (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Radnor) drew a walk before eventually scoring on a single from Giovinco. Murphy and Szczesny followed up with singles to load the bases before Mays (2-1) ended the game with his ninth strikeout.
 
Freshman Erik Wortmann (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) (1-3) pitched 3 1/3 innings of relief and was handed the loss while junior Jonny Bray (Fairfax, Va./Robinson) worked 2 1/3 innings.
 
The Bullets face McDaniel again on Friday, when they host the Green Terror at 3:30 p.m. on Take ALS Yard Day.