Lions Take Game One From Eastern Mennonite; Fall In Second Game

HARRISONBURG, Va. – For the second straight day, the Penn State Behrend baseball team split a doubleheader at Eastern Mennonite.

Game One: Penn State Behrend 10, Eastern Mennonite 8
Records: Penn State Behrend (2-1), Eastern Mennonite (3-3)

Key Moments:

* Daniel Boehme (Peters Township, PA/Seton LaSalle) got the Lions on the board first with a two-run double in the top of the first
* Behrend added two more runs in the second on a Silvio Ionadi (Pittsburgh, PA/Plum) RBI single and Mac Ciocco (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) sacrifice fly
* In the top of third inning, freshman Cayden Turner (Stoystown, PA/North Star) recorded his first collegiate hit with a two-out double
* Eastern Mennonite scored its first run of the game in the bottom of the third on a throwing error
* Ciocco delivered his first career home run in the fourth inning with a two-run shot to put Behrend up 6-1
* The Royals cut their deficit to one (6-5) with a four run bottom half of the inning, highlighted by a Dylan Hall two-run homer. Lions starter Colin Bolla (Fairview, PA/Fairview) prevented Eastern Mennonite from tying the game with a bases loaded strikeout
* Behrend tacked on insurance runs in the fifth and sixth innings
* Turner drove in his first career run with a double down the left field line in the fifth, followed by RBI singles from Thomas Nicely (Delmont, PA/Franklin Regional) and Spencer Deitz (Erie, PA/McDowell) in the sixth
* Eastern Mennonite once again cut the Lions lead in the bottom of the sixth with three runs on three hits
* Bolla picked up the win on the mound, tossing four innings to go along with four earned runs and six strikeouts
* Reliever Joe Lang (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) registered a three-inning save, giving up two earned runs and striking out three batters
* In his first collegiate start, Turner finished 3-for-3 at the plate. Ciocco notched a game-high three runs-batted in
* As a team, Behrend claimed 10 runs on 10 hits in the game one victory
* Hall had a pair of hit and RBIs to lead the Royals

Game Two: Eastern Mennonite 11, Penn State Behrend 8
Records: Eastern Mennonite (4-3), Penn State Behrend (2-2)

Key Moments:

* Behrend would strike first once again, this time on an Eastern Mennonite error and wild pitch in the top of the first
* The Royals knotted the score at one apiece in the bottom of the second with an RBI single from Trevor Selph
* The Lions capitalized on another Eastern Mennonite in the top of the third to retake the lead (2-1)
* A Daniel McGinnis two-run double and Josh Gjormand sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning would give the Royals a 4-2 advantage
* Both teams would once again plate a run in the fourth
* Eastern Mennonite broke the game open with six runs in the fifth with four runs coming from a grand slam off the bat of Nick Arnold
* Brayden Pendleton and Colby Eidson allowed a combined one earned run to go along with five strikeouts in the seven inning win for the Royals
* Deitz went 2-for-2 for Behrend, while Alec Greenblatt (Oliveburg, PA/Punxsutawney) threw a scoreless inning with three strikeouts out of the bullpen

Up next:

* The Lions head to Florida next weekend for their week long Spring Break trip, beginning with a contest against Wabash on Sunday, March 9. First pitch is schedule for 10 a.m. in Fort Pierce, FL