By Benton Heck, Sports Information Student Assistant

FERRUM, Virginia – Ferrum College split a non-conference baseball doubleheader with Penn State-Harrisburg this afternoon at home, taking the opener 4-1 and falling 16-7 in the nightcap at Panther Field.

RECORDS
Ferrum (4-2)
PSU-Harrisburg (1-1)

THE BASICS
In the opener, Grayson Chitwood scored on a wild pitch in the first inning to spot the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Nick Funk then singled to right field in the fourth inning to score Clayton Michael, then Ozzie Torres singled to right field in the fifth to drive in Davis Yeaman and put Ferrum up 3-0. Jacob Gladstone's RBI single in the seventh inning would score Torres and make it a 4-0 game.

Starter Will Davis (W, 1-1) pitched seven full innings to get the win. He allowed five hits and no runs with three walks and nine strikeouts. Starter Drew Harshbarger (L, 0-1) absorbed the loss for PSU-Harrisburg after pitching 4.1 innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs with eight strikeouts. Closer Matthew Sheppard pitched the final two scoreless innings in relief, striking out one and giving up no runs, hits, or walks against the five batters he faced. The two pitchers combined for a five hit shutout.

In the nightcap, Ferrum led 4-1 through four innings. The Nittany Lions exploded for six runs in the fifth and five in the seventh to break the game open and grab a 13-6 lead after seven full frames. PSU-Harrisburg would add three more runs in the top of the ninth to give them a 16-6 lead. Ferrum was able to push across one last run on a wild pitch.

Nittany Lion starter Zach Gettys (W, 1-0) earned the win, pitching 4.0 innings and allowing five hits, four runs, and four walks with seven strikeouts. Reliever Todd Kennedy (L, 0-1) took the loss for Ferrum after pitching 1.2 innings, giving up five hits, five runs and two walks, with one strikeout.

NEXT UP
Coach Ryan Brittle's team will face PSU-Harrisburg in another doubleheader Sunday, February 27, starting at noon.