LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Bald Eagles dropped both games against West Chester (12-5-1), losing 9-4 in the first and 10-3 in the second game of the day. With the loss Lock Haven falls to 6-15 on the year, while having a 3-7 record in conference play.
Game one of the day saw Matt Lingenfelter on the mound for the Bald Eagles. He ended up going 5.2 innings in game one with some mixed results. Lingenfelter surrendered four runs and walked six batters. He was able to control the damage, striking out three and blanking the Golden Rams after the second inning. Lingenfelter’s teammates came in support of their starter, scoring three runs in the third and bringing the game within one. However, after Bald Eagles skipper Heath “Smoke” Stover brought out the bullpen everything seemed to fall apart. Relief pitcher Dylan McKenna took the mound in the seventh and surrendered four runs in his one and only inning of the day, as The Haven dug themselves a hole they could not get out of.
Game two was much of the same story. A strong performance out of the gate with a major collapse in the later innings. It was senior Kevin Worek on the mound for the Bald Eagles in game two. Worek entered the game with an 8.75 earned run average (ERA), a far cry from his ERA of 4.75 last season. Worek started off shaky, giving up two runs in the top of the second, but he eventually settled in and pitched a few very solid innings. Worek would have his run support to back him up as Lock Haven scored two in the third thanks to a sacrifice fly by Greg Christino, and an RBI single from Stephan McMillan.
Tied through four innings it seemed The Haven would be able to come out on top, but everything fell apart in the sixth. It seemed like Worek was throwing batting practice to the Golden Rams as they collected two runs on three straight pitches to take a 6-3 lead. However, it wouldn’t get any better for the Bald Eagles when Stover turned to the bullpen. Relief pitcher Tyler Bauder surrendered four runs of his own as the Golden Rams blew the game wide open.
As the sun set over Watkins Feild, so did any hope Lock Haven had of winning game two. After the game, Stover called his players out to center field and could be heard talking to his guys about their performance on the field.
Coach Stover seemed adamant that their next series is a vital one.
“It is imperative that we win. They’re both must win games. We are gonna go into it like we have nothing to lose. We are going to fight and play to the last out. We are going to take two from them [West Chester] down there.”
UP NEXT:
Lock Haven will travel to West Chester for another double header against the Golden Rams on Monday March 25. First pitch for game one will be at 1:30 p.m.
Ryan States is in his 3rd year at Lock Haven University, and his second with the Eagle Eye. He is a Journalism major with intentions to minor in Sports Management. With his never-ending passion for all things sports, he wishes to pursue a career as a sports writer for a major outlet. When not watching sports, he can be found playing video games, hanging out with friends at the REC. Or you can find him helping out in the booth during LHU sporting events. His biggest hope while at Lock Haven is to be able to positively contribute to LHU sports in any way he can.
