ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team defeated Mount Union 6-2 in non-conference action on Tuesday afternoon.
Of the six runs scored by the Lions (21-8), only three were earned as Behrend made the most of two Mount Union fielding errors.
The Purple Raiders got on the board first with two runs in the top of the third, but would not plate another run the rest of the game. A committee of pitchers out of the bullpen for the Lions shut down the Mount Union offense to keep Behrend in the game.
In the fourth, the Lions' bats came alive and pushed six runs across the plate. Matt Bittner (Lancaster, NY/St. Mary's) ripped an RBI single up the middle to get the offense going. After Vinny Rice (Harmony, PA/Seneca Valley) drove in a run with Evan Bukowski (Washington, PA/Trinity) also coming around to score on an error, Behrend had their first lead of the game. Corey Bowers (Westlake, OH/Westlake) was next to hit and crushed an RBI triple to center field to give the Lions a 4-2 lead. Jordan Weinzierl (St. Marys, PA/St. Marys) and Ryan Kragnes (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) helped Behrend add to the lead with an RBI single each. When the inning finally came to an end, the Lions held a 6-2 advantage.
A combination of four Behrend relievers came out of the pen to throw 6.1 innings of scoreless relief with just two hits allowed. Matt Parnes (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) earned the win with 3.1 innings of work while giving up only one hit.
Alex Margraf (Erie, PA/McDowell) and Kranges led the offense with two hits each.
The Lions will be back in action on Thursday for an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) doubleheader at Medaille. Game one is set to begin at 2 p.m.