Baseball Beats Frostburg, Falls to Pitt-Bradford in AMCC Tournament; Decisive Title Game Featuring Behrend vs. Pitt-Bradford on Sunday
Penn
State Behrend advanced to the championship round of the AMCC Tournament with
a 9-1 win over Frostburg State on Saturday, May 10 before falling to
Pitt-Bradford's late game comeback 4-3. Behrend and Pitt-Bradford will
meet on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. for the decisive game in the double-elimination
conference tournament.
Saturday Game One:
Behrend 9, Frostburg 1
In game one, Ben
Cain started the game out strong getting a 1-2-3 first inning, which was a
sign of things to come, as Cain ended up pitching seven strong innings while
striking out ten Frostburg State Bobcats.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Dustin Dubensky (Punxsutawney/Punxsutawney) and Geoff Lang
(Pittsburgh/North Allegheny) singled and David Miller
(St. Marys/St. Marys) came to the plate with runners on first and third.
Miller laced a 2-out RBI single that scored Dubensky. Jon Gray (State
College/State College) then walked to load the bases before senior first
baseman Zach Sullivan (Oil City/Oil City) knocked in two runners with a
single to put Behrend up 3-0.
In the fifth Frostburg’s Joe Clark knocked in a run to get the Bobcats
within two at 3-1. Behrend threatened to score again in the bottom of the
inning but Frostburg pitcher Freddy Foshay got a strikeout to get out of the
jam.
In the seventh Josh Fyffe (Fredonia/Sharpsville) singled and stole second
before Dubensky knocked him in to go up 4-1. Dubensky then stole second and
scored when Adam Martin (Rochester/Rochester) singled and Behrend extended
its lead to 5-1 heading into the eighth.
In the top of the eighth Frostburg’s Jeff Kroboth singled which brought in Behrend
reliever Ryan Smith (Franklin/Franklin) who got a strikeout, picked off a
runner, and got a groundball to slam the door shut on the Bobcats.
In the bottom of the eighth Gray doubled and Sullivan singled putting
runners on the corners before Eddie Kessler’s (DuBois/DuBois) RBI single
scored Gray. Tom Pasinski (West Mifflin/West Mifflin) stepped to the plate
and knocked in two more runners for a 8-1 lead. Pasinski stole second and
advanced all the way to the plate when the ball was overthrown to push the
lead to 9-1. Smith pitched the ninth and ended the game as it began, with a
1-2-3 ninth inning, sending Behrend to the championship round.
Saturday Game Two: Pitt-Bradford 15, Frostburg
State 1
Pitt-Bradford jumped out to an early lead and kept adding to it, as the
Panthers knocked the ball all over the field, eliminating the Bobcats 15-1
and moving on to the championship round.
Saturday Game Three: Pitt-Bradford 4, Behrend 3
Pitt-Bradford opened the scoring by getting two runners aboard in the second
inning before Mike Seech hit a 2-RBI single to put the Panthers up 2-0.
Behrend got a run back in the third when Fyffe singled and stole second
before Dubensky drove him in to make it a 2-1 game.
In the sixth inning Dubensky was at it again when he doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Martin grounded out to second but drove in Dubensky to tie the game at 2-2.
In the top of the seventh Behrend got two great defensive plays in a diving
catch in left by Pasinski and a stab and long throw from Dubensky at third,
followed by a strikeout by starting pitcher Andrew Chrobak (New
Castle/Laurel) to keep the game tied.
In the bottom of the eighth David Miller pinch hit and reached on a single
before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Dubensky came to the plate and
came through with a key base knock which drove in Miller for the go-ahead
run putting Behrend up 3-2.
In the top of the ninth, Bradford quickly put runners on first and second
with no outs. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third. From
there, Josh Beimel hit a sacrifice fly to bring in the tying run and make it
3-3. Phil Solley then got an infield single to score the eventual
game-winning run, putting the Panthers up 4-3. Behrend put runners on
in the bottom of the ninth before pitcher Ben McCracken finished the game off for Pitt-Bradford,
forcing the decisive title game on Sunday.
The Behrend Lions and the Pitt-Bradford Panthers now each have one loss in
the AMCC Tournament. Sunday's 10:00 a.m. title game will determine the
2008 AMCC Champion and decide which team will receive the conference's
automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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