ERIE, Pa. – Casey Kern (Monroeville, PA/Gateway) hit a pinch-hit, two out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to lift the Penn State Behrend baseball team past Fredonia State 5-4 on Wednesday afternoon at the Behrend Diamond.
Trailing 1-0 after half an inning, the Lions (11-6) wasted no time grabbing the lead. Jordan Weinzierl (St. Mary's PA/St. Mary's) scored on a passed ball and Brian Bohman (Erie, PA/McDowell) followed with an RBI single to give Behrend a 2-1 lead after one.
Kyle Koslowski tied the contest at two for the Blue Devils (7-9) with an RBI double in the third.
The game remained knotted up until the bottom of the sixth.
With two outs and nobody on, Matt Wolczko (Apollo, PA/Kiski) singled, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild throw by the catcher. Nathan Junk (Cabot, PA/Knoch) then came through with a clutch single to right-center to give the Lions a 3-2 lead.
Fredonia State came back in the very next half inning. The rally began with a bloop single, then a wild pitch, an error, and a walk. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Conner Lorenzo hit an RBI single to tie the game. Kenny Johnston followed with a sacrifice fly, and suddenly it was the Blue Devils in front, 4-3.
As was the case earlier in the game, Behrend was not behind for long.
With one down in the bottom of the seventh, Ryan Finnegan (Fombell, PA/Riverside) got things going with a single up the middle. Then, on what was the hardest hit ball of the afternoon, Bohman doubled to left, putting runners on second and third. John Hlavinka (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) came through with a sacrifice fly to dead center that tied things up at four.
That's when Kern stepped in. The junior ripped an RBI single to left, scoring Bohman, to give the Lions a 5-4 lead.
It was an advantage that held up thanks in large part to the work of reliever Justin Rohrer (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin). The freshman came on to start the eighth and retired the first four batters he faced. After Dan Cecilia hit a one out, pinch-hit single in the ninth, Rohrer got Lorenzo swinging to put Behrend within one out of the win.
In the ensuing at bat, Cecilia took off for second, but the catcher Bohman erased him with an absolute seed to second base that ended the ballgame.
Tylor Williams (Atlantic, PA/Conneaut Lake) struck out five over five in a no decision for the Lions and Connor Semple (Washington, PA/McGuffey) got the win in relief. Rohrer worked two shutout frames to earn his first career save.
Behrend will host Allegheny on Thursday, April 10 at the Behrend Diamond at 4 p.m.
