Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior Patrick O'Grady (Floral Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to cap an outstanding all-around performance and the 22nd-ranked Gettysburg College baseball team rallied for the second game in a row, topping Johns Hopkins University 4-3 in Centennial Conference (CC) baseball action Thursday afternoon at Kirchhoff Field.
 
With the victory, the Bullets (26-3, 11-0 CC) ran their winning streak to 23, the longest in Division III since Christopher Newport University won 26 straight in 2011. Gettysburg, which outhit Johns Hopkins 13-4, also captured its 20th win in a row at Kirchhoff Field.
 
After erasing a six-run deficit versus Penn State-Harrisburg on Monday, the Bullets overcame a 3-0 hole against the Blue Jays (16-11, 4-6 CC). Hopkins scored all of its runs in the fifth inning before Gettysburg tied it with a three-run sixth.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, junior Scott Zanghellini (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) led off with a single down the rightfield line versus reliever Justin Drechsel, who had retired nine of the 10 batters he faced up to that point. Two batters later, senior Cam MacDonald (Norwell, Mass./Norwell) lifted a single into left, prompting a pitching change. Closer Thomas Harper came on to face pinch-hitter Cory Kargjozi (Robbinsville, N.J./Robbinsville), who went after the first pitch and grounded a ball into the left side. Shortstop Conor Reynolds came up with the ball, but his only play was at third and Zanghellini slid in just ahead of the throw to load the bases.
 
O'Grady worked a 1-2 count before flipping a single just over the reach of leaping second baseman Kyle Gillen, who was playing on the edge of the grass.
 
"I was just looking to put it into play," said O'Grady. "I had two strikes on me so I just didn't want to go down swinging. It wasn't a great pitch but I put just enough of the bat on the ball to put it over his head at second."
 
O'Grady, who finished 2-for-5, also made two incredible defensive plays and sparked Gettysburg's three-run sixth.
 
Senior Tommy LeNoir (Bear, Del./Red Lion Christian Academy) finished 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, including a two-run double that tied it in the sixth, while senior Nate Simon (Gwynedd Valley, Pa./Abington Friends School), Zanghellini, and MacDonald all collected two hits.
 
Junior Eric Hungerford (New Preston, Conn./Shepaug Valley) started on the mound for the Bullets and came away with a no-decision, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks while striking out two. Sophomore Luke Lawrence (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) came on fire a perfect ninth to pick up the win.
 
It was a pitcher's duel early on between Hungerford and Tyler Goldstein, who threw four shutout innings to open the game. Hungerford retired his first eight batters and took a no-hitter into the fifth, when Reynolds reached on a two-out infield single to open the door for a three-run inning. Reynolds would steal second before scoring on a Jonathan Hettleman single. John Maxwell also singled, and both Hettleman and Maxwell would come around to score following three Hungerford wild pitches.
 
Goldstein, in the meantime, was sharp through his first five innings, when he blanked the Bullets while striking out eight. However, O'Grady led off the sixth with a bunt single. Senior Al Posch (Hopedale, Mass./Hopedale) followed up with a single of his own before Simon blasted a double into right-center to score O'Grady. LeNoir then stepped to the plate and launched a double into the same spot to clear the bases and make it a 3-3 game.
 
Drechsel was called out of the bullpen and retired the next eight batters he faced before LeNoir stroked another double in the eighth. But Drechsel got the final out of the inning before the Bullets rallied in the ninth.
 
Hungerford worked a three-up, three-down sixth before running into trouble in the seventh. Reynolds was hit by a pitch with one out, then stole second before Hettleman lifted a single into center. But O'Grady charged in and rifled a throw to home that hit MacDonald on the fly. MacDonald was knocked over by Reynolds but held onto the ball for the out, and Hungerford would escape with a line-out. He also left a runner on third with two outs in the eighth.
 
Lawrence (2-0) came on in the ninth and was the beneficiary of another tremendous defensive play by O'Grady, who covered a tremendous amount of ground in right-center to haul in a would-be extra-base hit off the bat of Gillen leading off. Lawrence would get the next two outs, including a strikeout to end the frame, and has now worked 18 1/3 innings without allowing a run this season.
 
The same two teams conclude their two-game season series on Friday when they meet at Towson University beginning at 3:30 p.m.