MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – With two on and one away in the bottom of the ninth, Tim Haftl ripped the first offering he saw to the fence in left center field, driving in James Quici to complete the late-game comeback and give (RV) Penn State Harrisburg an 8-7, come-from-behind victory over York (Pa.) on Tuesday afternoon, March 10.


Haftl had a three-hit outing with a walkoff double and a run scored. Blaine Waltimyer drove in a pair of runs, while Alexander Ruiz reached base three times. Traeton Sauder earned the win after throwing 1.2 scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts. Drew Barshinger was solid in his first career start, striking out five and allowing just one earned run in four innings thrown.


With the Lions (7-4) trailing 7-4 in the bottom of the eighth, Matthew Johansen worked a one-out walk and Haftl singled through the right side before Adam Bova moved them into scoring position with a groundout to first base. After Jon Morgante's swinging bunt loaded the bases, Coy Schwanger ended an 11-pitch at-bat with a single to third base that was followed by a throwing error that allowed Johansen and Haftl to score, cutting the deficit to one after eight.


Sauder retired the Spartans (3-6) in order in the top of the ninth to give his offense a chance and the bats came through. With one away, Ruiz reached base thanks to an error before Zach Neeld entered to pinch run. Quici singled down the first base line to move Neeld to third and the second error of the inning ensued, allowing Neeld to score the tying run and Quici to advance to third before Haftl smacked the first he saw to left center, setting off a celebratory frenzy at second base.


Penn State Harrisburg jumped out to a quick lead when Quici plated Waltimyer with a sacrifice fly to left field in the bottom of the first. In the ensuing stanza, Braeden Piotrowski doubled the advantage when he scored on a throwing error and Waltimyer doubled the lead again with an RBI single to center field that drove in Nathan Lapp and Schwanger.


York plated single runs in the third and fourth frames, respectively, and eventually cut the deficit to one with another tally in top of the seventh. The Spartans made their push in the eighth, racking up four hits and taking advantage of two Penn State Harrisburg errors to plate four runs and take their first lead. Sauder entered in relief and limited the damage with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.


NOTABLES
- The victory was Penn State Harrisburg's sixth in a row over York dating back to 2019.
- Haftl finished 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored.
- Waltimyer drove in a pair of runs and scored another.
- Ruiz reached base three times on the day.
- Sauder earned the win after throwing 1.2 hitless innings of relief and striking out three.
- Barshinger struck out five in his start, allowing just one earned run on three hits in four innings thrown.
- Reliever Dylan Sattazahn threw two scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts.


WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions travel to Ohio for a three-game, weekend series at Wooster beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.


STAY CONNECTED 
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