VERO BEACH, Fla. – Senior
Will Wortmann (Bedford, N.Y./Fox Lane) struck out a career-high 10 batters in a complete-game victory in the opener and freshman
Shane Manieri (Harleysville, Pa./La Salle College) drove in three runs in the nightcap to propel Gettysburg College to a pair of victories over Norwich University Friday afternoon in Dodgertown.
Wortmann allowed only three hits over seven innings and the Gettysburg (6-2) bats provided plenty of support with 17 hits in a 13-2 win over Norwich (2-7) in the first game. Game two was tied heading into the final inning before Manieri blasted a two-run triple to right field to spark the Bullets to a 5-2 victory.
Gettysburg has out-scored its opponents 17-2 in the first inning on its spring trip and the team continued that trend in the opening contest. Junior
Dominick Gasparro (Clarksburg, N.J./Princeton Day School) led off with a single and came around to score on a triple to center field by classmate
Joe Giovinco (Stirling, N.J./Seton Hall Prep). Giovinco wasn't out there long, scoring on a groundout by sophomore
Sean Murphy (Westfield, Mass./Westfield) to make it 2-0.
Junior
Sinjin Smith (Nazareth, Pa./Mercersburg Academy) belted his first collegiate homer in the second inning, but Norwich answered with two runs in the top of the third. The Cadets managed three hits in the frame and those would be the only base knocks against Worthmann, who allowed only two more baserunners to reach via walks. Both of those runners were mowed down on the base paths.
Gettysburg opened the gap with three runs in the third inning, including a two-run jack by Manieri to right field. After the team's only 1-2-3 inning of the game in the fourth, the Bullets unloaded for seven runs in the fifth inning. Smith provided the big blow with a bases-clearing double to left field.
Wortmann struck out a batter in six of his seven innings of work, including two in the first, second, third, and seventh frames. He bested his previous personal high for strikeouts, which was achieved during freshman season, by two.
Smith finished 3-for-4 with two runs and a career-high five RBI. Manieri went 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBI and Murphy finished 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Sophomore
Harry Quimby (Wilmington, Del./Tower Hill) went 3-for-4 and Gasparro posted two hits and two runs.
Gettysburg put runners in scoring position in six of the seven innings of game two, but it was Norwich that struck first with a sacrifice fly by Brady Doherty in the third. The Bullets tied it up on a single by freshman
Andrew Decker (Baltimore, Md./Towson) in the fourth and went ahead on an RBI double by Manieri in the fifth inning.
The Cadets received a lead-off single by Nate Gehringer in the sixth and capitalized on a balk and error to knot the game with two outs.
Gettysburg broke the deadlock quickly in its final at bat, placing each of the first five batters on base in the seventh inning. Giovinco led off with a single and Murphy drew a walk. Manieri kept swinging a hot stick with a triple to bring home both runners and came around to score on a follow-up single by Quimby to set the final score.
Freshman
Timothy Fay (Easthampton, Mass./Williston Northampton) pitched well through the first four innings, allowing one earned run on five hits and striking out six. Sophomore
Sam Blanchard (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) earned the victory with three hits and a strikeout over the final three innings.
Manieri, who is hitting .429 in his first week of collegiate competition, went 2-for-3 with a walk, run, and three RBI. Decker and Giovinco each added two hits, while freshman
Mark Seibert (Yardley, Pa./Holy Ghost) reached base in each of his four plate appearances on an error, single, walk, and hit-by-pitch.
Gettysburg closes its spring trip with a doubleheader against Immaculata University on Saturday at 10 a.m.