STEVENSON, Md. – Stevenson University and Lebanon Valley College split a MAC Commonwealth baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Sugar Field.  The Dutchmen rallied for an 8-6 win in the first game, before the Mustangs salvaged a split with a 7-3 win in the nightcap.

Stevenson (14-13, 5-4 MAC Commonwealth) plated all seven of its runs in the first three innings of game two, plating three runs in the first, one in the second and three in the third.

Trailing 2-0 entering the bottom half of the first after Lebanon Valley (11-13, 4-5 MAC Commonwealth) scored twice, Stevenson had the first four batters in the bottom half of the frame reach.  Senior Ian Eberly and freshman Matthew Kerber each singled, followed by a double by senior Craig Joseph to plate Eberley and move Kerber to third.  Junior Kevin Kopas walked, then a sac fly by senior Nick Peifer brought in Kerber.  Joseph scored from third on a wild pitch.

The lone run of the second inning came when Eberly doubled with two outs and came home on a single up the middle by Kerber.  In the third, the Mustangs led off with three straight doubles, as Kopas, Peifer and senior Matt Myers each doubled to extend the lead to 6-2.  Myers made it 7-2 when he came in on a sac fly by freshman Connor Wasilnak.

Freshman James Wiercinski picked up his first collegiate win, starting and going six innings, allowing six hits and three runs (two earned) while notching five strikeouts.  He retired 10 in a row from the third through six innings.  Senior Arik Fenstermacher pitched the final inning for Stevenson.

Joseph finished 3-4 at the plate while Eberly and Kerber each had a pair of hits.  Eberly has hit safely in 17 of his last 18 games. 

In the opener, Lebanon Valley rallied with five runs over the final two innings to take the victory.  The Dutchmen scored three times in the sixth to take a 6-4 lead, before Stevenson came back to tie the game 6-6 with a pair of runs in the bottom half.

Sophomore Jake Hall opened the sixth with a home run to left, his fourth home run in a three-game span.  Stevenson's other run came as sophomore Jake Dimon followed Hall's round-tripper with a double, and eventually scored on a double by senior Kevin Wu.

Lebanon Valley broke the tie with two runs in the seventh without a hit, taking advantage of three walks, a wild pitch and a pair of errors.  In the bottom of the seventh, the Mustangs did get the tying run into scoring position with one out, but a strikeout and a groundout ended the threat.

Stevenson took a 2-0 lead in the first as back-to-back two-out singles by Joseph and Myers plated Peifer and Kopas.  Dimon led off the second with a single and scored on a Peifer single to make it 3-0.

Lebanon Valley hung three runs on the Mustangs in the top of the fourth to tie the game 3-3, but Wu delivered a single in the bottom half that scored Hall to make it 4-3 after Hall led off with a single.

Wu, Peifer, Hall and Dimon each finished with two hits as each team recorded 11 hits in the opener.  Freshman Christopher Perez went the first five-plus innings on the hill and surrendered nine hits and five runs, all unearned, while senior Trevor Fitzsimmons worked the final two innings and took the loss.

Stevenson is idle until Friday, when it opens a three-game set with Widener at 3:30 at Sugar Field.