Colin Albright ’18, Staff writer

The Lebanon Valley College baseball team finished 3-5 in its annual spring break trip to Fort Pierce, Florida.

The Dutchmen jumped out to a 2-0 record to start the week on a positive note. On Sunday, March 4, LVC defeated the Cougars of Misericordia University 12-6. The offense was fueled by homeruns coming from Jon Harned, a senior outfielder, and Chris DeClerico, a sophomore shortstop. Later that day, LVC defeated Massachusetts Maritime by a score of 17-14.

“Starting off the season 2-0 felt amazing, especially knocking off Misericordia, who is a power house in the MAC Freedom,” Harned said. “I also think those wins allowed us to be more relaxed out on the field and not press as much.”

The Dutchmen fell to Penn State Behrend the following day by a score of 11-7. The team held onto a 6-1 lead into the fifth inning when the Lions posted seven runs and never looked back. Josh Marcelli, a junior pitcher and first baseman, picked up the loss for the Dutchmen.

LVC got back on track the next day with a 6-2 win over the Fighting Muskies of Muskingum University. Dylan Stephen, a sophomore pitcher, tossed a gem – going seven full innings and allowing just one earned run. The offense got LVC ahead early and tacked on four more runs in the seventh inning to provide some insurance.

“It felt great starting the season off on a positive note, and the wins gave us motivation to go through the rest of the week looking for more wins,” Stephen said. “Our defense was there to back me up and made crucial plays when we needed them.”

The early-week success for the Dutchmen did not transition into the end of the week as LVC lost the final four games of the trip. LVC was defeated in both games of a double-header by the Fighting Scots of Monmouth College (Ill.) on March 7. The struggles continued for the Dutchmen the following day as they dropped two games to SUNY Maritime. Although the squad lost the final four games of the trip, the team was in contention to win every game and lost by a margin of two runs or less in each game.

“I have a lot of faith in this year’s team and I don’t think bouncing back from those last four losses will be an issue,” Harned said. “Now that we have the spring training jitters behind us, I think we are going to be a very competitive team in conference ball.”

The team is back in action on Friday, March 23, as they take on Albright College at home at 3:30 p.m.