ERIE, Pa. – Senior Josh Wagner (South Park, PA/South Park) registered his 100th career hit, helping the Penn State Behrend baseball team sweep Penn State Altoona 10-5, 10-6 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Games of the Week on Saturday.
Game One:
Score: Penn State Behrend 10, Penn State Altoona 5
Records: Penn State Behrend (11-3, 4-1 AMCC), Penn State Altoona (4-9, 2-3 AMCC)
Key Moments:
* Starting pitcher Thomas Zbezinski (Gibsonia, PA/Pine-Richland) struck out at least one batter in each of the first five innings, ending with eight to get his third win
* It marked the first time this season Zbezinski gave up a run
* Freshman Will Jamison (Allison Park, PA/Shaler) earned his first collegiate save after coming in the bottom of the sixth with a three-run lead and hurling 1.2 innings of work
* The first inning showcased a double from each team that resulted in a run to knot the game at 1-all early on
* The Altoona Lions used a two-out double to take a 2-1 lead in the third
* In the bottom of that frame, Behrend made it even with bases loaded and a sacrifice fly from Isaac Stouffer (Punxsutawney, PA/Punxsutawney) to knock in Braden Paulinellie (DuBois, PA/DuBois)
* The fourth inning saw Altoona have three up and three down for the first time in the game
* Behrend took advantage and got the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fourth
* Catcher CJ Weller (Sewickley, PA/North Allegheny) doubled and Tanner Cicchini (Pittsburgh, PA/Upper St. Clair) hit an RBI single to make it 3-2 and put the Behrend Lions ahead for good
* Behrend broke open the game with four runs in the fifth and added three more in the sixth
* Juston Jones (Moon Township, PA/Moon) went 3-for-4 with three runs, while Wagner tallied a pair of hits to get to his 100 for his career
Game Two:
Score: Penn State Behrend 10, Penn State Altoona 6
Records: Penn State Behrend (12-3, 5-1 AMCC), Penn State Altoona (4-9, 2-3 AMCC)
Key Moments:
* Junior pitcher Ryan Weaver (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) got his first start of the season and third win in game two
* The Lions scored in every inning except the sixth and the eighth
* Behrend got on the board first with a first-pitch double by Stouffer to score Paulinellie and then Colin Harger (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) hit a sacrifice fly to bring Jones off third for a 2-0 lead
* The Lions used three hits in the bottom of the second to add another run to make it 3-0
* Stouffer registered his second double of the day in the third and then scored on a single by Zach Bowen (Pittsburgh, PA/Serra Catholic), while Harger scored on Jake Deitz's (Erie, PA/McDowell) sacrifice to left field for a 5-0 lead after three
* Behrend jumped out to a 10-0 advantage on 12 hits in the first seven innings
* Altoona went down swinging and posted five runs in the top of the eighth and one more in the ninth
* Cicchini, who went 2-for-3 in game one, posted the same performance in the nightcap along with a triple and two runs scored
Up Next:
* Behrend returns to action on Wednesday for a single nine-inning game at Fredonia, beginning at 3 p.m.
