ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team split a two-game series with conference opponent Penn State Altoona losing the first matchup 5-1 and winning the second, 8-3, Saturday.
In their first game in over a week, the Lions (12-5, 5-2 AMCC) got off to a rough start in game one. The men only racked up six hits in 27 attempts. Two of those base knocks were from Geoff Lang. The senior went 2-for-3 including a single down the right field line that sparked Behrend's only run of the game. Assisting the squad in the inning was Matt Bittner who singled to center field which advanced Lang to second. Three batters later, Lang eventually tallied the run from an Evan Bukowski sac fly to center field.
The Lions committed three costly errors which allowed the Altoona Lions (15-5, 6-1 AMCC) to score two unearned runs and keep Behrend at bay, 5-1.
Ryan Jacobs pitched five innings giving up seven hits, five runs (three earned), while walking three batters and striking out six.
Game two was a much different story as the Behrend Lions (13-5, 6-2) watched Mike Moyer strike out eight Altoona (15-6, 6-2 AMCC) batters in seven innings of work, leading the men to an 8-3 victory. Moyer gave up four hits and walked only one batter in the complete game.
Ryan Kragnes knocked the rust from the week long layover going 2-for-3 with three runs and two stolen bases, with the sophomores most important run coming in the bottom of the third to give the Behrend a 3-1 lead.
After reaching first from a single to centerfield, Kragnes swiped second and then reached third thanks to an error by Altoona's. A couple batters later, Bukowski grounded out to the first basemen earning the catcher one of his four RBIs on the day, while scoring Kragnes.
In the fifth, the Lions pushed the 3-1 advantage to 6-1 thanks to runs by Kragnes, Bukowski, and Bittner.
The Altoona Lions attempted comeback but fell short. After giving up two runs in the fifth, Moyer quickly gained his composure closing out the inning with limited damage, 6-3.
Behrend would record two unanswered runs in the sixth to defeat Altoona, 8-3.
The Lions are scheduled to play at Pitt Bradford on April 12. The double header is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
