ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team worked to a sweep of Waynesburg Thursday afternoon, winning 6-5 and 11-0 respectively.
Game one was a come from behind win for the Lions (9-2). Behrend got a run in the bottom of the third after Scott Sada (Saegertown, PA/Saegertown) doubled and John Hlavinka (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) walked to put two runners on. A wild pitch advanced the runners and Brian Bohman (Erie, PA/McDowell) knocked in Sada with a fielder's choice.
The Yellow Jackets (1-10) bounced back with three runs of their own in the top of the fourth and then added two more runs in the top of the sixth to retake the lead at 5-3.
The Lions would not cave however. A big two-out rally drove in three runs to take a 6-5 lead going into the final frame. With two outs and Ian Taylor (Wexford, PA/Vincentian Academy) on first, Justin Foreman (Oakdale, PA/South Fayette) had a pinch-hit base knock followed by Sada reaching on an error and single by Hlavinka that took the lead.
Brandon Smail (Apollo, PA/Kiski Area) came in for the save in the seventh and closed the door on Waynesburg to seal the come from behind victory. Eric Mikulan (Pittsburgh, PA/Hampton) picked up the win for Behrend after Zachary Krivda (McKeesport, PA/McKeesport Area) got the no decision in 4.2 strong innings with seven strikeouts. Mikulan and Smail each struck out two in 1.1 and 1.0 innings respectively.
Sada and Hlavinka each picked up two hits and Hlavinka added two walks and an RBI. Brian Bohman knocked in two runs coming off his 17 RBI week in Florida last week.
Phil Myers (DuBois, PA/DuBois Central Catholic) threw a six-hit complete game shutout in game two to complete the sweep. Myers was dealing, giving up no runs and striking out seven batters.
10 different Lions joined the hit parade and totaled 18 hits in support for their pitcher. Hlavinka and Foreman each had three, while Sada David Boehme (Venetia, PA/Seton-Le Salle) and Zach Murray (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) each added two.
Behrend scored all of their runs in the first three innings, getting one in the first, three in the second and seven in the third. In the first, Hlavinka singled and then Boehme doubled him home to put the Lions on the board.
In the second, Foreman doubled followed by another double by Sada that scored Foreman. Murray reach on an error between the two hitters and moved to third. Then Hlavinka ripped one up the middle that score both runners and built a 4-0 lead heading into the third.
The third was their big inning, starting the frame with seven straight hits. With Alex Margraf (Erie, PA/McDowell) on third and Brandon Bergstrom (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) first, Foreman stepped up and hit a homerun to right field that cleared the bases.
Murray, Corey Bowers (Westlake, OH/Westlake) and Sada all got hits and Hlavinka singled to score Murray. Bohman ground out, scoring Bowers and Boehme singled scoring Sada. Hlavinka later scored when Bergstrom reached on an error.
From there, Myers shut the door on nearly every Yellow Jacket batter and secured his second win of the season.
Behrend is back on the diamond at Muskingum this weekend. The play Alma at noon and Muskingum at 3 p.m. Saturday.
