ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team took down D'Youville 13-2 and 6-5 Thursday afternoon in a pair of Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) games.
Mason McGuire (Pittsburgh, PA/Upper St. Clair) went 5-for-7 on the day to lead the Lions (18-13, 9-5 AMCC) at the plate. He went 3-for-4 in game two with two RBIs and a run scored.
Justin Foreman (Oakdale, PA/South Fayette) led the team in RBIs in both games, registering three in each. He roped a three-run bomb in the first game, followed by a bases-clearing double that scored three in game two.
Behrend got on the board early in game one, starting with a lead-off double by Ryan Hamm (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny). With Hamm in scoring position, McGuire singled through the left side to bring in the first run of the game.
Also in the first inning, after Scott Sada (Saegertown, PA/Saegertown) got on base from a fielder's choice, he stole second base, so he was able to score when David Boehme (Venetia, PA/Seton-La Salle) laced a single to center.
The Lions continued bring the heat, adding two in the second, one in the third, five in the fourth, and ending with three in the third.
In the fourth inning, a lead-off triple from Holden Stevanus (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) set the tone for Behrend. McGuire stepped up and hit a single to the left side that sent Stevanus home. The next batter, Sada, smacked a shot to right field for a stand-up triple, giving him his first of two RBIs in the game.
With Sada on third, and Ian Taylor (Wexford, PA/Vincentian Academy) on first from a walk, Foreman hammered a three-run homer to left field to extend the lead 10-0.
The Spartans (4-20, 1-13) scored in the sixth and seventh, ending the final score 13-2.
Stevanus batted a perfect 3-for 3 with three runs scored and an RBI, while Braden Paulinellie (DuBois, PA/DuBois) went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Eric Mikulan (Pittsburgh, PA/Hampton) threw a complete game, giving up two hits while fanning eight batters.
Game two was a back-and-forth battle.
A Foreman bases-clearing three-run double gave the Lions a 4-0 lead after the first, but D'Youville quickly responded with four runs of their own to even the score at 4-all.
The Spartans scored another run in the fourth to give them their first, and only, lead of the day.
In the sixth, Behrend notched two runs to propel them over D'Youville for a 6-5 victory. Paulinellie got the inning going with a single through the right side.
Errors from the Spartans allowed Zach Murray (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) followed by Hamm to both reach base, scoring Paulinellie to tie the game at 6-all.
With Murray on third, McGuire hit a sacrifice fly to right field that was deep enough to score Murray for, essentially, the game-winning run.
Paulinellie and McGuire both hit 2-for-3 in the game.
Freshman Ryan Weaver (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) picked up his first career win on the mound. In his 6.2 innings of work, he only gave up two hits and struck out a career-high eight batters.
Behrend returns to play on tomorrow at Pitt-Bradford. The double header is scheduled for 2 and 5 p.m.