ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team split an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The Lions took game one 4-3, before falling in the second, 6-4.
In game one, Behrend used a big third inning and strong pitching to hold on for the one-run victory.
With the score tied at 0-0 in the bottom of the third, the Lions (21-7-1, 10-1-1 AMCC) wore out the gaps for a four-run inning. Joe Paterniti (Jamestown, NY/Jamestown) led off with a triple to right center. Paterniti would score on a wild throw that went out of play. Ryan Kragnes (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) followed with a triple and would later score on an Evan Bukowski (Washington, PA/Trinity) sacrifice fly.
Matt Bittner (Lancaster, NY/St. Mary's) ripped a liner and cruised into third for Behrend's third triple of the inning. Ryan Geibel (East Butler, PA/Butler) and Tommy Kocur (Erie, PA/McDowell) both smashed RBI singles, giving the Lions a comfortable 4-0 lead.
Pitt-Greensburg made things interesting though, with single runs in the fourth and sixth, the Bobcats had the lead down to just two runs. In the seventh, Greensburg made one last comeback attempt but fell short against Chad Zurat (Clearfield, PA/Clearfield), who picked up his sixth save of the season.
Dante DeSantis (DuBois, PA/DuBois Central Catholic) got the win for Behrend to remain perfect on the year. DeSantis struck out eight in six innings while giving up two runs.
The Lions took the field in game two and found themselves down early. Garrett Herald cleared the fence for a two-run homer with two outs to give the Bobcats the 2-0 lead. After Behrend answered with one in the second, Pitt-Greensburg put up a run in the third and fifth, increasing their lead to 4-1.
After throwing out a guy at the plate, the Bobcats were one out away from taking the three-run lead to the sixth, but Bittner and Geibel clutched up for the Lions. Bittner kept the inning alive with an RBI single to left field. Geibel followed with a two-run double to right and suddenly Behrend had the game tied at 4-all.
Both teams went scoreless in the sixth, but it was Pitt-Greensburg who scored in the seventh to make the difference. The Bobcats scored two runs and held off the Lions in the bottom half to hand Behrend their first AMCC loss.
Bittner led the Lions with two hits in each game. Kragnes and Geibel contributed two hits each on the day. Kragnes swiped two bags in game one to extend his streak to 23 straight stolen bases without being caught.
Behrend will be back in action on Tuesday. The Lions will host Allegheny at the Behrend Diamond in a single nine inning game. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
