Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Sophomore Sebastian Rodriguez (Plano, Texas/Plano West) and senior Dale Beshore (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) pulled out a pair of three-set victories to boost Gettysburg College to an electrifying 5-4 victory over visiting Dickinson College in Centennial Conference men's tennis action Wednesday evening.

Gettysburg (7-6, 2-4 CC) trailed 4-3 to Dickinson (9-7, 3-3 CC) with both Rodriguez and Beshore dropping their opening sets, the former falling in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-2) against Chris Mueller-Wolf at No. 5 and the latter dropping a 6-4 decision to Will Golinkin at No. 2. Beshore was the first to rebound, nailing down a tiebreaker win of his own in the second set 7-6 (7-4), but he stumbled early in the final frame and trailed 5-2. The Bullet senior came through in the end, winning the final five games for a 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 decision to pull Gettysburg even at 4-4.

At roughly the same time Beshore was making his comeback in the third set, Rodriguez was polishing off a 7-5 victory in the second frame to set the stage for the match's decisive competition. He grabbed the upper-hand early and led 5-4 while holding serve. Mueller-Wolf threatened to extend the match by fighting off Rodriguez's serve and jumping out to a 40-15 advantage in the game. Rodriguez came back, however, and held on for a 6-7 (2-7), 7-5, 6-4 victory as darkness encroached upon the battlefield.

Gettysburg put itself in good position to start by taking two of three doubles competitions. Beshore teamed with fellow senior Kevin Raynes (Northumberland, Pa./Shikellamy) for an 8-3 win at No. 3 and sophomore Mike McLaughlin (Hanover, Pa./South Western) and freshman Chris Curran (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) put up an 8-2 win at No. 2.

Dickinson retook the lead 3-2 with wins at first and sixth singles. McLaughlin stemmed the tide with a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) victory over Bo Marshall at the fourth spot, before Pavel Hejsek's three-set win over sophomore Terry Keegan (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Prep) at No. 3 (6-3, 3-6, 6-2) set the stage for Beshore and Rodriguez.

The match took over four hours to complete with Rodriguez and Mueller-Wolf battling for nearly three hours. The victory was Gettysburg's first over Dickinson in nine years and it ended a three-match slide by the Bullets. The Red Devils had a three-match winning streak halted.

Gettysburg returns to the court on Saturday, April 17, at Ursinus College at noon.