ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team tallied 30 hits and 21 runs in an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) doubleheader sweep of Hilbert on Thursday afternoon. The Lions defeated the Hawks 5-1 in the opener and 16-2 in game two.
In game one, Tylor Williams (Atlantic, PA/Conneaut Lake) stole the show on the mound with a complete game. The sophomore pitcher struck out seven hitters and allowed just one run to pick up his second victory of the year.
The Lions scored all their runs in two innings with four in the second and one in the third. Jordan Weinzierl (St. Marys, PA/St. Marys) plated Behrend's first run with a single through the left side. With two outs on the board, Ryan Kragnes (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) and John Hlavinka (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) hit back-to-back singles to push the Lions' lead to 4-0. Alex Margraf (Erie, PA/McDowell) came around to score an insurance run in the third to cap the Behrend scoring.
The Hilbert offense struggled until the seventh when they threatened, eventually getting the tying run on deck. The Hawks recorded three of their five hits in their final at bats, but Williams got out of a jam to get the final two outs of the game.
Kragnes, Hlavinka, and Margraf combined to go 6-for-9 at the plate with three runs scored and two RBIs.
After taking game one, the Lions' bats came alive in the nightcap. Behrend recorded a season-high 20 hits to earn their second conference win of the year.
The Lions put up three in the first, seven in the second, and four in the third en route to yet another season-high of 16 runs.
Seven different pitchers took the mound for Behrend, shutting the Hilbert offense down with 11 strikeouts and only five hits. Ryan Jacobs (Port Vue, PA/South Allegheny) earned the win after striking out the side in the fourth.
Matt Bittner (Lancaster, NY/St. Mary's) led the offense in game two with a 3-for-3 day including two doubles and three RBIs. Matt Wolczko (Apollo, PA/Kiski) drove in four runs on two doubles. Corey Bowers (Westlake, OH/Westlake) and Vinny Rice (Harmony, PA/Seneca Valley) each had a pair of hits. Hlavinka swung a hot bat in game two as well, recording three more hits with three runs scored.
The Lions will be back in action on Saturday at Penn State Altoona and Sunday at Pitt-Bradford. Both contests are AMCC doubleheaders starting at 1 p.m.
