HAMBURG, N.Y. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team secured two Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) road wins against Hilbert, taking game one 8-6 and game two 21-8 Tuesday afternoon.
The Lions (19-9, 8-2 AMCC) erupted for 21 runs in game two against the Hawks (6-16, 1-7 AMCC) for their second highest outbreak of the season.
Four players hit home runs for Behrend, Matt Wolczko (Apollo, PA/Kiski) took over the team lead with his third triple of the season, and 12 different Lions recorded at least one RBI, led by David Boehme (Venetia, PA/Seton-Le Salle) with four.
Behrend got on the board early with a Boehme sacrifice fly and a Zach Murray (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) RBI single to take a 2-0 lead.
They followed their early momentum with three-run outbursts in the third and fifth inning, as well as four spots in the seventh and ninth. The Lions scored at least one run in every inning.
Along with their offensive firepower, four separate pitchers saw action for Behrend, started by Zachary Krivda (McKeesport, PA/McKeesport Area) who threw the first 5.1 innings of the game and picked up his second win of the season.
Game one was a much tighter battle between the two sides. Wolczko had his best game of the season from the plate, going 3-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored.
Scott Sada (Saegertown, PA/Saegertown) went 3-for-5 in the leadoff spot and Brian Bohman (Erie, PA/McDowell) matched the 3-for-5 performance in the three hole. They each scored a run.
The Lions scored three runs in the first and one in the second to take a 4-0 lead. They added two more in the fifth and one in the seventh and eighth after Hilbert got two back in the sixth.
Sean Rutkosky (Harborcreek, PA/ Harbor Creek) remained undefeated on the season, pushing his record to 4-0. He threw 6.1 of the seven innings before Brandon Smail (Apollo, PA/Kiski Area) closed the final two outs of the game and picked up his second save of the season.
Through six innings, Rutkosky only surrendered five hits and two runs while striking out four. The Hawks got four runs on four hits in the seventh to push Rutkosky from his complete game bid and cut the Behrend lead to two. Smail gave up a hit, but finished the game without issue.
The Lions are back in action tomorrow with a home game against Allegheny that starts at 4 p.m.
