Buffalo, Ny. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team picked up its first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) sweep of the season, defeating Medaille 18-2 and 11-6.
In this conference matchup, senior infielder David Boehme (Venetia, PA/Seton-La Salle) made himself known against the Mavericks (9-8, 2-2 AMCC) after going 7-for-10 with four homeruns and 10 RBIs to lead the Lions (12-9, 3-3 AMCC) to victory in both games.
In game one, it did not take long for Boehme to get going. After Scott Sada (Saegertown, PA/Saegertown) roped a two-out double to left field, Boehme stepped to the plate and launched his first homerun of the day to give Behrend an early 2-0 lead after the first inning.
Then in the top of the third, he struck again. In his second at bat, Boehme hit another two-run bomb to extend the Lions lead to 4-0. A couple batters later, Justin Foreman (Oakdale, PA/South Fayette) matched Boehme with a two-run homer of his own, pushing the lead to six after three innings.
In the top of the fourth, Sada wanted to be a part of the homerun club, and did just that. After a John Brittner (Zelienople, PA/Seneca Valley) walk, Sada roped a two-run homer of his own to add to the Lions lead.
Just when things couldn't get better for Boehme, he plated a bases-clearing double for three of the five Behrend runs of the innings. In his last at bat in game one, he lashed one more two-run homerun, ending the final score 18-2.
In total, Boehme went 5-for-5 with three homeruns, a double, a single, and nine RBIs. Sada batted 4-for-4 with three RBIs, while Foreman went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
Phil Myers (DuBois, PA/DuBois Central Catholic) picked up the win on the mound for Behrend. He threw for five innings and only allowed one run on six hits while striking out six batters.
Boehme kept the momentum rolling through game two as well. As the leadoff hitter in the top of the second, he hit a solo shot to give the Lions the first run of the game. Also in the inning, Zach Murray (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) lashed a bases-clearing single to extend the score to 3-0 at the end of two.
In the next inning, with Sada on base, Foreman hit his second two-run bomb of the day to give the Lions a 6-0 advantage.
The Lions were held scoreless for the next few innings. After scoring one run in the seventh, Foreman struck again with a solo homerun in the top of the eighth.
In the final inning of the day, Sada roped his second homer of the day. Then, Braden Paulinellie (DuBois, PA/DuBois) drove in two runs from a single. The Mavericks scored three in the ninth, ending the score at 11-6.
Boehme and Sada both went 2-for-5 with one RBI a piece. Foreman batted a perfect 3-for-3 in game two.
Brandon Smail (Apollo, PA/Kiski Area) earned up his second victory of the season after throwing six innings on the hump. He sat down six Mavericks, and allowed two runs on four hits.
The Lions will look to continue this firepower this Saturday when they battle against Alfred State on Saturday in a non-conference matchup. The games are set for 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.