READING, Pa. – Penn State Behrend and Alvernia split a nine-inning doubleheader in the 2023 ECAC Division III Baseball Championship, forcing a final game three on Friday. The Lions won game one, 6-1 and fell behind 9-3 in game two.
Game One: Penn State Behrend 6, Alvernia 1
Records: Penn State Behrend (21-18), Alvernia (27-19)
Key Moments:
* The Behrend Lions scored six straight runs before the Golden Wolves got on the board in the bottom of the fifth
* Behrend tallied two runs in the second and four in the fifth on seven total hits
* Jeff Zick (Moon, PA/Our Lady of Sacred Heart) pitched the first seven innings, allowing just five hits and striking out six for his second win
* In the top of the second with two outs, Ryan Meneskie (Moon Township, PA/Moon) singled through the left side to get the Lions first base runner
* Meneskie rounded the bases on a passed ball and a John Berger (Wexford, PA/Pine-Richland) single
* Berger and Meneskie came home on an error for a 2-0 lead
* Behrend had four hits in the fourth to add four more runs thanks to a Mac Ciocco (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) double and a two-RBI single by Meneskie
Game Two: Alvernia 9, Penn State Behrend 3
Records: Penn State Behrend (21-19), Alvernia (28-19)
Key Moments:
* Behrend grabbed the early 2-0 lead once again, but this time Alvernia tallied seven unanswered runs
* The Golden Wolves scored nine runs on 12 hits on seven RBIs while holding the Lions to five hits
* Isaac Stouffer (Punxsutawney, PA/Punxsutawney) had a pair of doubles
* Colin Harger (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) went 2-for-3 with a double
* Zac Bogats (Corapolis, PA/Moon) began game two with being hit by a pitch and scored on a double by Stouffer
* Stouffer advanced to third on a wild pitch and came home on Ciocco's ground out
* Alvernia held Behrend to seven scoreless innings
* Derrick Shields (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) suffered the loss in the start, pitching 4.1 innings and fanning six
Next Up:
* The Lions return to action for the final game of the ECAC Championships. Game time is at 11 a.m.
