PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Penn State Behrend baseball team fell twice on Sunday afternoon in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) action.  La Roche defeated the Lions 6-5 in game one before taking game two, 4-3.

The Redhawks (16-15, 11-3 AMCC) rallied in both games to sweep the Lions (22-10-1, 10-3-1 AMCC) for the second straight season.

In game one, Behrend jumped out to an early lead.  Evan Bukowski (Washington, PA/Trinity) and Matt Bittner (Lancaster, NY/St. Mary's) both singled and scored to give the Lions a 2-0 lead after one.

Behrend added to their lead in the third after Bittner doubled home Bukowski. Bittner would later score on an error by La Roche, giving Behrend the 4-0 lead.

The Redhawks answered back with two of their own to cut the deficit in half through three innings.  After the Lions pushed across an insurance run, La Roche once again answered back. The Redhawks scored three runs on four hits to knot the game at 5-all.

Both teams would go scoreless in the sixth and seventh, sending the game into extras. Runs were hard to come by in the first four innings of free baseball with both pitchers dominating the game.  

Chad Zurat (Clearfield, PA/Clearfield) was brilliant in relief for Behrend.  Zurat worked his way out of a few jams with five strikeouts in 5.2 innings.  It was not until the bottom of the 12th with two outs that the Redhawks were able to push across the winning run on an infield single.

In game two, the Lions once again got on the board first. Vinny Rice (Harmony, PA/Seneca Valley) clutched up for Behrend with a two-out RBI single in the second.  

Now trailing 2-1 in the fourth, the Lions were able to plate two runs to regain the lead. Ryan Kragnes (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) hit a sacrifice fly to get the first run home. Bukowski then ripped a shot to the third baseman to keep the inning alive and give the Lions the one-run lead.

In the sixth though, La Roche rallied for two runs to take the lead into the seventh. Behrend's last attempt at a comeback came up just short, giving the Redhawks the win.

Rice led the Lions with four hits on the day.  Bittner and Bukowski each contributed three hits.  

Behrend will be back in action on Wednesday.  The Lions will host Medaille at 1 p.m.