LYNDON CENTER, Vt. — Lyndon played its first non-conference doubleheader of the 2014 season Thursday against regional rival Plymouth State University. Despite dropping the opening game of the twin bill by a score of 17-0, Lyndon nearly gained a split in Game 2, falling to the Panthers by a narrow margin of 4-3.

The victory ups the Plymouth State record to 18-13 while Lyndon drops to 9-13.

In Game 1, plated eight runs in the first and never looked back. Run-scoring singles by Jarik Krajewski, Paul Reny Jake Broom and Dave Hall were further aided by two bases loaded walks by Lyndon starter Alex Gauthier (North Smithfield, R.I.) and a hit batter. By the time the uprising was over, the Panthers had more than enough run to make a winner of Kyle Sanford.

He went four innings to get win allowing no earned runs on three hits while striking out two and walking three. Broom and Reny had three hits each in Plymouth's 14-hit barrage while Krajewski and Justin Judd chipped in two each.

Gauthier took the loss allowing 12 earned runs on nine hits while fanning none and walking six. Tyler Pelletier (St. Albans, Vt.) and Michael Cartularo (Lyndonville, Vt.) had two hits each for the Hornets.

"We gave a lot of our players an opportunity to play today, but we gave up too many walks and that is what killed us in the first game," Said Lyndon Head Coach Tom White. "But we've done a good job of separating games this season and even though the first game didn't turn out well, we cleared our head and battled hard in the second game."

In the nightcap, the Panthers once again jumped out to a quick lead in the first inning, but the Plymouth offense went silent for the remainder of the game. An RBI double by Hall and a two-run single off the bat of Brandon Cox staked PSU to four-run cushion, but the Hornets managed to slash that deficit in half in the bottom of the frame with a pair of runs.

Run-producing singles by Cartularo and Ian Murdock (Wilmington, Vt.) fueled the Lyndon spurt and an RBI single by Kyle Whitworth (BRattleboro, Vt.) an inning later put the hosts in striking distance with five innings to play.

"At this point in the season we are battle-tested and we are able to deal with adversity more effectively," said White. "Plymouth is one of the top-five teams in the Little East, so they're a good match for us. We got a chance to get some real life experience for some of our players and that is going to bode well for us heading into the final weekend of the season."

Lyndon managed to get runners into scoring position in both the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings, but could not come up with the key hit that would draw them even. PSU closer Zach Cogswell came on in the sixth and managed to wiggle out of a pair of jams to record his second save of the season. Connor MacRae went five and one-third inning to get the win allowing three earned runs on six hits while striking out five and walking two.

Dan Armstrong had two hits for the Panthers while Hall and Brian Thompson added one double each.

Lyndon's Zach Hatin (Burlington, Vt.) absorbed the loss, allowing two earned runs on six hits while fanning two and walking one. Cartularo had three hits in the loss and Dan Pierce (Montville, Conn.) collected two, including a double.