BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team picked up a pair of Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) victories on Thursday afternoon. The Lions defeated Medaille 7-1 in the opener before cruising to a 10-3 win in game two.
Tylor Williams (Atlantic, PA/Conneaut Lake) was dominate on the mound for Behrend in game one. The sophomore pitcher allowed just one run in six innings of work to go with a career-high 13 strikeouts en route to earning his fourth win of the year.
The Lions grabbed an early lead with a single run in the second only to have the Mavericks answer with a run in their half of the inning to tie the game at 1-1. Behrend came right back with a two runs in the third and led the rest of the way. The Lions added insurance runs in the fifth and seventh for the six-run victory.
A huge turning point in the game occurred in the bottom of the first. After Medaille started the game with three straight hits to load the bases, Williams settled down and struck out the next three batters to get Behrend out of the inning.
Matt Bittner (Lancaster, NY/St. Mary's) and Vinny Rice (Harmony, PA/Seneca Valley) gave the offense a big boost with three hits and two RBIs each. Ryan Kragnes (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) also sparked the bats, contributing a double and two stolen bases.
In game two, the Lions never trailed after scoring one in the first and erupting for five in the fourth.
Starting pitcher Justin Wood (Allegany, NY/Allegany Limestone) did not need much support on the mound. Wood threw six scoreless innings for Behrend to pick up his third win of the season.
Rice continued to swing a hot bat in the nightcap with two more hits. Evan Bukowski (Washington, PA/Trinity) contributed three hits for the offense. Alex Margraf (Erie, PA/McDowell) drove in a single-game career-high three runs.
With the sweep, the Lions improve to 23-8 overall and 13-1 in AMCC play. Behrend will return to the diamond on Saturday at Pitt-Greensburg for a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. With one more conference victory, the Lions will secure the AMCC regular season title and will host the AMCC Championship Tournament.
