PENN ST. BEHREND AND MOUNT ALOYSIUS REMAIN UNBEATEN AFTER UPSET VICTORIES
#3 Penn State Behrend defeated #2 Pitt-Greensburg 7-4 for the first upset of the AMCC Baseball Tournament Championship Round, followed by #4 Mount Aloysius upsetting top-seeded La Roche 7-5 in 10 innings in the night cap.
#3 Penn State Behrend defeated #2 Pitt-Greensburg 7-4 for the first upset of the AMCC Baseball Tournament Championship Round, followed by #4 Mount Aloysius upsetting top-seeded La Roche 7-5 in 10 innings in the night cap.
#3 Penn St. Behrend 7, #2 Pitt-Greensburg 4
Pitt-Greensburg senior infielder Greg Lynn scored a run in the first after a leadoff triple and added another in the third when junior Dylan Pounds crossed the plate to take a 2-0 lead, but it would not phase Behrend.
In the fourth, the Lions loaded the bases before senior outfielder Alex Margraf grounded into a productive double play scoring sophomore Zach Murray from third. Junior Brandon Bergstrom then doubled to right and knocked in freshman Justin Foreman to tie the game at 2-all.
Behrend added two more runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings to make the score 6-2.
Greensburg scored two in the bottom half of the seventh to cut their deficit in half when senior catcher Athony Bozzuto singled to left, plating Pounds and freshman outfielder Chris Common. However, an RBI single by the Lions in the ninth added one more insurance run for Behrend to close the game out after a rain delay and set the final at 7-4.
Behrend freshman Phil Myers had another strong start on the hill, going 6.2 innings, surrendering nine hits and four runs while getting six strikeouts. Sophomore Brandon Smail threw 1.1 in relief before the delay, holding the Panthers hitless. Freshman Eric Mikulan came in for the final inning after the delay and picked up his second save of the season, shutting Greensburg down in order.
The Lions play Mount Aloysius tomorrow at noon to see who advances to the championship match and who plays in the loser's bracket final.
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#4 Mount Aloysius 7, #1 La Roche 5
The La Roche College baseball team trailed with two outs in the bottom of the ninth but rallied with back-to-back home runs by junior Mitchell Yard and senior Colin Williamson to put together an improbable comeback and send it to extras. Mt. Aloysius responded with a pair of runs in the tenth inning when sophomore Chase Miller was hit by a pitch and junior Kyle Droz doubled to center field, playing Miller. Droz would eventually score on Jordan Campano single. to advance in the AMCC Tournament.
A Luis Navedo RBI double and a Ben Herstine sacrifice fly gave La Roche a 2-0 lead after the first inning.
Mt. Aloysius freshman infielder Matt McCourt led off the seventh with a home run and three batters later junior Ben Legath homered to left field for a 5-2 lead.
La Roche went down in order in the eighth inning and were down to their last out in the ninth before Yard entered the game. Yard came to the plate with a runner on first base and hit a 1-2 pitch deep over the leftfield wall. Williamson made the impossible happen and tied it in the next at bat with a line drive home run over the left-centerfield wall.
An RBI single and RBI double put Mt. Aloysius up 7-5 in the top of the tenth and the Mounties held on for the 7-5 victory.
The Redhawks will play Pitt-Greensburg tomorrow at 9am.