BETHANY, Wv. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team lost their final game of the regular season to Bethany College 4-3 on Tuesday afternoon.
The Lions (24-15) held a one-run advantage heading into the bottom of the eighth, until the Bison (13-23) scored one in the eighth followed by a run in the ninth coming from a Ryan Nickerson walk-off single to hand Behrend the non-conference loss.
Scott Sada (Saegertown, PA/Saegertown) paced the Lions in the tough battle, batting 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs.
Eric Mikulan (Pittsburgh, PA/Hampton) and Brady Kress (Zelienople, PA/Seneca Valley) both threw for three innings on the mound for Lions. Mikulan gave up three hits and struck out one, while Kress only allowed two hits.
Brennan Keillor (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) gets the loss on the mound for the Lions.
Just three batters into the game, Behrend scored its first run from a Sada solo-home run to left field.
From there, neither the Lions nor Bison could tally a run until the sixth inning.
Behrend added its second run of the game when David Boehme (Venetia, PA/Seton-Le Salle) singled to score Sada from second base, who reached first from a single to center and then stole second.
Sada made the score 3-0 in the seventh inning. After John Brittner (Zelienople, PA/Seneca Valley) was walked, and Holden Stevanus (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) singled up the middle, Sada stepped up and roped a single to left field to give him his second RBI of the contest.
However, Bethany started to mount their comeback in the bottom of the seventh. With the bases loaded, a hit by pitch followed a walk scored two runs for the Bison to make the score 3-2.
Then, with a runner on first and second, Jake Stemmerich doubled down the left field line that drove in Isaac Wengart.
After a scoreless ninth inning for the Lions and the game tied at 3-all, Bethany made its move. Neil Woods singled to right field, and advanced to second on a balk. The next batter, Ryan Nickerson, walked up to the plate and hit a single to center field for the walk-off winner.
Behrend is back in action Thursday in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) final four for a matchup against Pitt-Greensburg. Game time is set for 11 a.m. at La Roche.