The Penn State Harrisburg baseball team splits its first series of the season going 2-2 at Ferrum College in a pair of doubleheaders this past weekend.

The Blue & White dropped their first game Saturday, Feb. 26, to the Panthers by a score of 4-0. Despite the lack of offensive production, starting pitcher Drew Harshbarger still managed to rack up 8 strikeouts with no walks in 4.1 innings.

Their second game of the Saturday doubleheader was a different story. Pitcher Zach Gettys got the start in game two striking out seven and the team would rack up a total of 13 hits in their 13-6 victory against Ferrum.

“Offensively we found more of our groove after the first game. Some guys stepped up this weekend and will get more opportunities moving forward.” -Head Coach Ryan Bown.

Chase Smith, OF, and Drew Sassman, IF, lit a spark to their offense with Smith going 4-for-6 with a double, a homerun, and two RBIs and Sassman going 3-for-6 while driving in a team high three runs.

The Lions would split their second doubleheader this past Sunday, Feb. 27, to end their four-game series against Ferrum College. In the first game, Matt Parks, IF, crushed a three-run

in the top of the fourth to put the Blue & White up 6-4. Ferrum would end the game scoring eight unanswered runs, five runs in the bottom of the fifth, to win 12-6. Despite the tough loss, Ryan McSorely, IF, hit his first homerun of the season, a three-run shot coming in the top of the first inning.

In the Sunday night cap, Penn State Harrisburg would end their series with a decisive victory of 12-6 over the Panthers. McSorely led the team in hits going 3-for-6 with a double and two RBIs to go along with Dallas Hite’s team-best 3 RBIs of the game. Maddux Ryan, IF, also contributed to the win going 2-3 with two doubles along with a strong outing from pitcher Nick Fitzgerald who racked up six strikeouts in 3.1 innings.

“Our goal for the upcoming season is to win the United East Conference Championship and advance through Regionals.” -Head Coach Ryan Bown

The Blue & White are coming off a very productive 2020-21 season as they went 29-9, 18-2 in conference play, and won the United East Conference Championship. The Lions would go on to win one games in the NCAA Regional Tournament by beating 24-ranked Texas Lutheran 6-4 but then dropped two games to 5-ranked UW-Whitewater, 6-1, and 10-ranked Adrian College, 15-14, to exit the tournament. The Penn State Harrisburg baseball team is determined to get back into championship contention.

“We are operating on a championship mentality. It is championship or bust for us.” -Pitcher Joel Sneeringer.

The Penn State Harrisburg baseball looks to continue their championship campaign Wednesday March 2^nd at Johns Hopkins at 4 p.m.