FORT PIERCE, Fl. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team defeated Maritime 8-7 by way of an 11th inning walk off base hit on day four of their trip to Florida Wednesday afternoon.
With two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning, David Boehme (Venetia, PA/Seton-La Salle) lashed a double to center field to score Ian Taylor (Wexford, PA/Vincentian Academy) and Zach Murray (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) to give the Lions (2-4) the walk-off victory.
After an early run in the first inning by the Lions, the Privateers (3-2) chipped away in the third, fifth, and sixth inning to take a 3-1 lead. Behrend responded with a couple runs in the bottom of the sixth when Ryan Hamm (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) hit a double to right field to score Scott Sada (Saegertown, PA/Saegertown) from first base, followed by Hamm scoring from Justin Foreman's (Oakdale, PA/South Fayette) fielder's choice.
With the game evened at 3-all through six, Boehme broke the tie after pushing a single to left field to score Taylor, who reached base from a double and was able to advance to third off of Sada's single.
Maritime got one back in the eighth when Phil Russo hit a lead-off double to start the eighth. Russo eventually scored from a fielder's choice to tie the game and force extras.
After a scoreless ninth and tenth inning, the Pioneers posted three runs in the top of the 11th to hold a comfortable lead heading into the bottom of the 11th.
However, Behrend got the bats going. Foreman paced the inning with a single to right field, followed by Mason McGuire (Pittsburgh, PA/Upper St. Clair) getting hit by a pitch to put two on. With two on, Zach Murray (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) connected on a double to left field that scored the pinch runner, Tanner Cicchini (Pittsburgh, PA/Upper St. Clair), and sent McGuire to third.
With one out, Taylor roped a single to right field to score McGuire, and put the Lions just one run behind. After a pop-up out, it was up to Boehme to win the game.
With two on and two out, Boehme got ahold of a pitch for a double up the middle that scored Taylor and Murray to end the game.
Boehme led the team with three hits in the game, while Murray and Taylor added two each.
Brandon Smail (Apollo, PA/Kiski Area) started on the mound for the Lions. He threw 8.0 innings, surrendering six hits and three runs while also sitting down a career-high eight batters. Ben Ramey (Export, PA/Franklin Regional) tossed the final three innings and posted the win for Behrend. He allowed three runs on four hits, and struck out three.
The Lions continue on their trip in Florida tomorrow when they battle against Drew at 2 p.m.
