FORT PIERCE, Fl. – Ryan Finnegan (Fombell, PA/Riverside) drew a walk with a full count, bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 10th to complete a seven-run comeback for the Penn State Behrend baseball team. The Lions (1-1) defeated Northwestern (3-2) 9-8 in ten innings.
Trailing 8-1, Behrend erupted for a six-run seventh inning to climb back into the game. Nathan Junk (Cabot, PA/Knoch) and Brandon Bergstrom (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) singled to start the inning and Tommy Kocur (Erie, PA/McDowell) walked to load the bases with nobody out. John Hlavinka (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) knocked in Junk and Bergstrom with a single to left field starting the seventh inning rally.
With bases loaded and two outs Junk came through in the clutch with a two-RBI single, his second hit of the inning. The clutch two out hit reduced the Northwestern lead to just one. Junk went 3-for-5 from the plate and had three RBI's.
Down by one with two outs and the bases loaded, Junk came through again in the bottom of the ninth inning drilling a single to right field that sent the game into extra innings. Behrend would go on to win the game in the bottom of the 10th thanks to Finnegan's walk with the bases loaded with two outs.
Freshman David Boehme (Venetia, PA/Seton-La Salle) threw three scoreless innings and struck out four Northwestern batters to earn his first career victory.
The Lions smacked 16 hits and drew five walks in their first win of the season. Five different Behrend players finished with multiple hits. Bohman ripped four hits and drove in one run while John Hlavinka (Venetia, PA /Peters Township) added two hits and two RBI's from the leadoff spot. Corey Bowers (Westlake, OH/Westlake) added two hits as well.
The Lions will ride their momentum boost into tomorrow when they play two against Martin Luther. Game one will start at 9 a.m. with the second game following shortly after.
