The Penn State Behrend Lions baseball team split the doubleheader matchup with the Pitt-Bradford Panthers on Wednesday, March 31.  Behrend would be victorious in the first game while dropping the second to the Panthers.

Pitt-Bradford threatened in the top of the first by loading the bases before freshman pitcher Ryan Jacobs (Port Vue/South Allegheny) got a strikeout to get out of the inning.  Behrend then jumped out to an early lead when Josh Fyffe (Fredonia/Sharpsville) tripled to left center to bring in Jon Gray (State College/State College) for a quick 1-0 lead.  Fyffe scored on a RBI single by Ryan Geibel (East Butler/Butler) to put Behrend up 2-0.  The Behrend Lions added a run in the third and then pushed another across the plate in the fourth when Rich Doyle (Pittsburgh/North Allegheny) singled and was driven in by another hit by Ed Kessler (Bethel Park/Bethel Park) for a 4-0 advantage.

Pitt-Bradford put two men aboard in the top of the sixth before a bloop single by Justin Bifano got the Panthers on the board cutting the Behrend lead to 4-1.  Bradford’s Johnny Phelps scored on a groundout to make it a two-run game with the blue and white ahead 4-2.

Pitt-Bradford hit two batters and walked another in the top of the sixth to load the bases with no outs.  Fyffe’s sacrifice fly made it 5-2, and Dustin Dubensky’s (Punxsutawney/Punxsutawney) infield single pushed the Behrend lead back to four at 6-2.  Geibel then drove two more runners in with a blooper into short centerfield to put Behrend ahead 8-2.  Pitt-Bradford managed one more run before the blue and white closed out game 8-3 with Jacobs earning the win.

In game two Behrend again got on board in the first inning, as Fyffe advanced to third on Dubensky’s single and scored on a throwing error for a 1-0 Behrend lead.  Pitt-Bradford responded in the top of the third by putting two runners on before back-to-back singles gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead.  A Behrend error then loaded the bases before Pitt-Bradford’s Justin Bifano blasted a double to score three runs and increase the Panther lead to 5-1.

In the top of the fourth Pitt-Bradford again loaded the bases before a sacrifice fly made it a 6-1 game.  Behrend threatened a big inning in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases before Gray’s sacrifice fly scored Kyle Kline (Clearfield/Clearfield Area) to cut it to 6-2, but Pitt-Bradford worked out of the jam without any further damage.  Behrend scored in the sixth off a RBI single by Ryan Liddle (DuBois/DuBois) to pull within three at 6-3. Bradford would eventually win the contest by a 9-3 score. 

The Behrend Lions play next on Thursday, April 1 in a non-conference doubleheader versus Fredonia.  Game one is set to begin at 1:30 p.m.  The blue and white then hit the road for an AMCC doubleheader on Saturday, April 3 at La Roche at 1:00 p.m.