BEHREND SPLITS WITH GROVE CITY; FORCES GAME THREE

The Penn State Behrend baseball team split with Grove City, losing 5-4 in 10 innings and winning 7-4 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Southwest Championship to force a winner-take-all game three.

In game one, Brandon Bergstrom, John Hlavinka and David Boehme all had two hits, while Alex Margraf led the team with three.

Brian Bohman registered a hit in the contest and drove in a team-high two runs. Hlavinka and Boehme each added an RBI as well.

The Lions (30-17) got on the board early after Bohman roped a ball to right center that brought Hlavinka around from second after stealing a bag to get into scoring position. The Wolverines (26-17) answered in the fourth with three runs and took a 3-1 lead.

Behrend wouldn't be down for long however. They answered right back in the home half of the fourth with two runs of their own to tie the game at 3-all. Margraf and Bergstrom hit back-to-back singled and Hlavinka doubled down the right field line to score Margraf. Bohman then used a productive out as the next batter to score Bergstrom and tie the game.

After Grove City added a run in the seventh, the Lions needed a run in the bottom of the ninth to force extras. Hlavinka crossed the plate once again on a Boehme single and tied the game at four. They were able to get a walk-off hit with the bases loaded and went to extra innings.

The Wolverines scored a run in the 10^th and for the second inning in a row, Behrend could not score with one out and the bases loaded and could not take game one.

Game two was a different story. After a leadoff hit by Grove City, Eric Mikulan shut the door on the mound and did not allow another hit until the sixth. He went six innings of wo-hit ball with a run and four strikeouts to get his sixth win of the season.

Nathan Noe was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs and a run scored to lead the Lions, while William Kirkpatrick posted a two-hit game for the only other player with multiple hits.

Behrend put up a three-spot in the second to start their brigade. Zach Murray registered an RBI single, Margraf was hit by a pitch that scored Noe and Bergstrom hit a sacrifice fly to score Murray to take a 3-1 lead.

The Lions added a run in the third and a run in the fifth to take 5-2 lead. Then in the sixth, Noe drove in Boehme and Scott Sada for two more insurance runs and a commanding -1 lead.

The Wolverines added two runs in the seventh and one in the bottom of the ninth, but it was not enough to complete the comeback as Sada shut the door to pick up his team-leading fourth save of the season.

These two teams are back at it tomorrow in the ECAC championship game where the winner takes the crown. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.