GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team swept Gettysburg in a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The Lions rallied in the opening game for a 2-1 victory before rolling to a 13-0 win in game two.
The Behrend pitching staff was dominate in both games. Five Lions combined to throw 14 innings with just one run allowed.
Despite a solid start from Ryan Jacobs (Port Vue, PA/South Allegheny), Behrend trailed 1-0 in game one and had just six outs left. In the sixth, the Lions found some life on offense and managed to push two runs across to take the lead. Alex Margraf (Erie, PA/McDowell) sparked the offense with a leadoff triple. Ryan Kragnes (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) was the very next batter and without delay ripped an RBI single to tie the game.
Behrend played small ball after that with John Hlavinka (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) laying down a sacrifice bunt to move Kragnes up. Following an Evan Bukowski (Washington, PA/Trinity) single, Matt Bittner (Lancaster, NY/St. Mary's) drove in Kragnes to give the Lions the lead.
In the bottom half of the inning, Gettysburg started to mount a comeback, but Chad Zurat (Clearfield, PA/Clearfield) got Behrend out of a jam to kill the momentum and shut the door in the seventh to earn the save. Zurat recorded three strike outs on the bump with Jacobs sitting down three as well.
The Lions' bats did not stay quiet for long as they erupted for 13 runs in game two. Behrend put three on the board in the first, three in the second, and four in the third to complete the sweep.
Kragnes had a monster game in the nightcap, going 3-for-3 with three runs scored, two walks, and an RBI. Bukowski, Bittner, Vinny Rice (Harmony, PA/Seneca Valley), Nathan Junk (Cabot, PA/Knoch), and Corey Bowers (Westlake, OH/Westlake) all had two hits for the Lions. Taylor Overby (Nazareth, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) tallied a season-high three hits.
Mike Moyer (Clearfield, PA/Clearfield) picked up his second win of the year on the mound with four scoreless innings. Matt Parnes (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) and Tylor Williams (Atlantic, PA/Conneaut Lake) came out of the pen and did not allow a run to keep the shutout intact.
The Lions will travel to Pitt-Bradford on Wednesday to open up conference play. The doubleheader begins at 1 p.m.
