Written by Erin Hughes

In a Sunday night pitching duel, the Alexandria Aces took a 3-1 win over the Olney Cropdusters at Frank Mann Field. 

Both pitchers worked clean first innings, with Aces southpaw Aidan Von Zuben recording the only strikeout of the inning.

In the top of the second, the Cropdusters found themselves with the bases loaded and two out, but Von Zuben worked a flyout to leave the bases jammed and end the threat.

The Aces found themselves in the exact same position in the home half of the inning as Cropdusters pitcher Mac Crismond (U of Charleston) got a groundout to his first baseman to end the inning.

The top of the third saw Walker Zampella (East Stroudsburg) walk with one out and quickly steal second. Andrew Kell (Salisbury) singled and Zampella was thrown out at home by Aces right fielder John Colligan (Ball State). Kell took second and an RBI single by Will Henson (VCU) scored him. Henson stole the Cropdusters’ third base of the inning and Caderyn Ahearn (Lehigh) walked to join him on the bases. Both runners were left stranded as Von Zuben fanned the last batter.

Crismond retired three of four batters faced in the bottom half of the third. After giving up a run in the previous inning, Von Zuben responded with a 1-2-3 top of the fourth.

Diego Pena (Western Michigan) walked to start off the bottom of the inning before Colligan hit into a fielder’s choice that erased him. Will Twomey (Michigan) was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with one out. The Aces attempted a double steal and while Colligan was successful, Twomey was caught stealing by Cropdusters catcher Tyler Cook (Troy). Adham Sahebzadeh dropped a line drive single to right field to score Colligan and tie the game at one.

Von Zuben tossed a zero in the top half of the fifth, highlighted by a 1-5-6-1-4-6 caught stealing play that ended the inning. With two stellar defensive plays in the game, Aces coach Chris Berset said that they “feel pretty sound” and after “some defensive miscues yesterday in game one, I reminded them, ‘Hey, make the play in front of you…don’t grind too much.’”

Gavin Miller (Pitt) walked to begin the frame and moved to second on a fielder’s choice. A single up the middle from EJ Hankerson (Maryland) scored Miller and allowed the Aces to take the lead 2-1. Hankerson and Pena were left stranded after the inning ended with two flyouts. 

Adam Lehman (Western Michigan) entered in relief of Von Zuben and went three up, three down with two strikeouts in his first inning of work.

Sahebzadeh, Cooper Hums (Western Michigan), and Toby Hueber (George Mason) led off the Aces’ sixth with three straight singles to load the bases with no outs. A fielder’s choice erased Hueber and scored Sahebzadeh for Alexandria’s only run of the inning. 

Pitching dominated the remainder of the game as Lehman totaled nine strikeouts through four complete innings. On the Olney side, Gavin Lill (Millersville) and Nolan Ross (Dickinson) combined to prevent any more runs from scoring. 

Von Zuben and Lehman combined for 14 strikeouts in the game. Von Zuben’s five strikeouts and Lehman’s nine were each new season highs. 

Berset said his pitchers were “electric” tonight, saying “what a performance by [Von Zuben] to go five and then [Lehman] to go four - it’s exactly what we needed” after yesterday’s double header against the Bethesda Big Train. Berset continued, “The pitching performance won us tonight and that was beautiful to see. Diego [Pena] caught a fantastic game back there, so…hat tip to our pitchers.”

Berset also credited Von Zuben for his help in the four player effort to catch a runner stealing in the fifth. “He was the one who kind of did an inside move to get him right there. [The runner] was looking to take that bag and we were able to get him.