Behrend and Altoona Advance to Semi-Finals in Day One Action
Game One: Penn State Altoona 19,
Frostburg State 3
Penn State Altoona quickly jumped to a 7-0 after two innings of play in
the first game of the day. In the first the Lions scored two runs on
three hits and an error. R.J. Barnard started the rally off with a
double to center and eventually score on a Grady Luzier single. The
Lions added another run when John Schall singled to drive in Luzier.
Frostburg tried to cut into the Altoona lead getting a RBI single from Pat
Sapp to cut the deficit to six. However, Penn State Altoona scored five in
the second, one in the third, three in the fifth, and four in the sixth and
eighth innings.
Barnard went 4-for-5 on the day with four runs scored. Luzier added
three hits in his seven at bats while driving in four runners. Jim
Byers led the Lions with four hits, three runs scored, and five RBI.
Game Two: Penn State Behrend 16,
Pitt-Greensburg 2
Pitt-Greensburg jumped ahead early when Mike Battochi's infield single
scored Matt Gouveia to put the Bobcats ahead 1-0 after a half inning of
play. The Behrend Lions quickly evened the game when Ed Kessler
doubled in Jon Gray and the game headed to the second inning tied 1-1.
Behrend got the go-ahead run in the second when Ryan Geibel's double scored
Ryan Liddle for a 2-1 lead.
Neither team scored in the third but the blue and white blew the game open
in the fourth with a 6-run inning. Behrend had four hits, three walks,
and Geoff Lang stole home as the home squad made it a 8-1 advantage after
four innings. Behrend starter Andrew Chrobak blanked the visiting
Bobcats again in the top of the fifth and then saw his teammates post eight
more runs in the bottom of the inning. Kessler homered twice in the
fifth and Lang added a homer of his own as Behrend went up 16-1.
Pitt-Greensburg would score one run in the seventh to make it 16-2 which
would be the final score. Chrobak got the win pitching five innings,
striking out four, and yielding just three hits.
Game Three: Frostburg State 7, Pitt-Greensburg 2
Pitt-Greensburg again jumped ahead in the top of the first inning, when
Shane Molyneaux singled in Matt Gouveia for a 1-0 lead. Frostburg
evened the game in the third inning when Andrew Derr led off with a single
and was followed by Patt Sapp's single. Derr advanced to third on a
sacrifice and scored on a groundout to even the game at 1-1.
Pitt-Greensburg again took the lead in the sixth inning when Craig Huhn led
off with a double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Huhn
scored when Matt Diehl singled to put his team up 2-1. Frostburg came
back strong in the seventh inning getting four runs as Joe Garrity smashed a
2-run double and later in the inning Mike Jester had a 2-RBI double of his
own to help Frostburg take a 5-2 lead. Frostburg pushed two more runs
across the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning to make it a 7-2
advantage. That was plenty of support for Frostburg starter Trevor
Conner who pitched a complete game to get the win. Conner gave up two
runs, one of them earned, with four strikeouts to help his team advance to
Saturday's play while Pitt-Greensburg was eliminated.