ANNVILLE, Pa. – Sophomore Jake Lloyd worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth as the Arcadia University baseball team held off a late rally by host Lebanon Valley College for a 5-4 Commonwealth Conference victory Friday. This was the first of a three-game series between the two teams, while will see them meet for a conference doubleheader Saturday at Arcadia's Erny Field.
 
The Knights (15-9, 10-6 CC) led 5-1 heading into the bottom of the eight, where sophomore Zach Edwards launched a two-run shot to right off senior Jason Goldberg to pull the Dutchmen (8-17, 3-11 CC) back within two.
 
Lloyd came in to pitch in the bottom of the ninth, but struggled to find his command early as he hit a batter before walking three straight to load the bases score freshman Matthew Smarkanic, making it a one-run game with no outs in the inning. Lloyd was finally able to settle down after that, striking out freshman Jonathan Harned and sophomore Michael Puglisi before getting Edwards to hit a grounder to second that put out freshman Cale Bruso to end the game.
 
The game was scoreless until the top of the fourth, where sophomore Justin Chasmar drove in junior Connor Arsenault with a triple to right before scoring on junior Michael Nessel's ground out to short, putting Arcadia out in front 2-0. Junior Nick Todero drove in a pair of runs with his two-out triple to left in the top of the seventh, and sophomore Jordan Draude plated Chasmar from third with an RBI-single to right in the top of the eighth to give the Knights a 5-1 advantage.
 
Goldberg picked up the win on the hill after allowing three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts to improve his record to 4-1 on the season, while Lloyd picked up his first save of the year after an adventurous ninth inning. Chasmar finished the day a perfect 4 for 4 at the dish with one double, one triple, two runs scored and another driven in, while Todero was 2 for 4 with a double, a triple and two RBI.
 
Sophomore Casey Wall took the loss for LVC after giving up four runs on five hits and three walks in 6.2 innings of work, dropping his record to 3-3. Edwards and Puglisi were both 2 for 5 at the plate.