Lions Continue Winning Ways; Bolla Registers 100th Career Strikeout

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team brought its winning streak to 12 straight games with a doubleheader sweep of Penn State Altoona on Sunday.

Game One: Penn State Behrend 9, Penn State Altoona 0
Records: Penn State Behrend (19-6, 7-0 AMCC), Penn State Altoona (12-19, 3-6 AMCC)

Key Moments:

* Behrend starter Colin Bolla (Fairview, PA/Fairview) started off Sunday's twinbill by striking out the side in the top of the first
* Behrend got on the board in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI groundout from Daniel Boehme (Peters Township, PA/Seton LaSalle)
* Behrend tacked on two more runs in the second inning with back-to-back bases loaded walks by Boehme and Thomas Nicely (Delmont, PA/Franklin Regional)
* An Altoona error in the third inning led to Behrend's fourth run of the game
* After a pitching change in the bottom of the fourth, Nicely greeted the new Altoona arm with a three-run home run over the fence in left field
* Bolla notched his 100^th career strikeout in the fifth, fanning the Altoona leadoff hitter of the inning
* Sophomore Hank Shaffer (Saegertown, PA/Saegertown) delivered a two-run single in the sixth to push Behrend's advantage to nine (9-0)
* Bolla secured the game one win, tossing the first complete game shutout of the season for Behrend
* The second-year starting pitcher only allowed three hits and two walks to go along with eight strikeouts in the complete game effort to earn his fifth victory on the mound
* This marked the second complete game in Bolla's collegiate career
* All nine Behrend batters reached base at least once in game one
* Dylan Barnes (Pittsburgh, PA/North Hills) tallied a team-high two hits, while Nicely drove in a game-high four RBIs

Game Two: Penn State Behrend 6, Penn State Altoona 2
Records: Penn State Behrend (20-6, 8-0 AMCC), Penn State Altoona (12-20, 3-7 AMCC)

* Altoona scored its first runs of the day on an RBI single and groundout in the third inning
* Behrend recorded four runs on five hits to take a lead in the bottom of the fifth
* Nicely, Silvio Ionadi (Pittsburgh, PA/Plum), Mac Ciocco (Venetia, PA/Peters Township), and Cayden Turner ( Stoystown, PA/North Star) each registered RBIs in the inning
* Another Nicely run batted in helped Behrend claim its 20^th win of the season and a doubleheader sweep with a two-out bottom of the seventh single
* Andrew Bredel (Clinton, PA/Burgettstown) earned his sixth win of the year with six innings of two-run baseball, striking out five hitters
* Sophomore Jake Manendo (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) notched his fourth save of the season, pitching three hitless innings to go along with four strikeouts out of the bullpen
* At the plate, Turner finished 3-for-4 with an RBI
* For Altoona, Jake Hillard delivered two hits

Up next:

* Behrend will head to Hiram for a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday, April 22. Game times are scheduled for 2 and 5 p.m.