Baseball Defeats La Roche in Two Games, Move to 12-0 in the AMCC
The Penn State Behrend Lions hosted the La Roche Redhawks on Saturday, April 19 at the Behrend field. Behrend came into the game undefeated in conference play, with a 10-0 mark in the AMCC and 20-4 overall record for the 2008 season. The blue and white continued their conference winning streak, beating La Roche 11-2 in game one and going on to win game two 6-3.
In game one, Behrend started the first inning with a Josh Fyffe (Fredonia/Sharpsville) stand-up double to right field. Dustin Dubensky (Punxsutawney/Punxsutawney) was walked next to put runners on second and third. Adam Martin (Rochester/Rochester) stepped up with a single to bring home Fyffe, putting the blue and white up 1-0. A passed ball would advance runners to second and third as Geoff Lang (Pittsburgh/Allegheny) singled to bring both runners in, giving the Behrend Lions a 3-0 lead. Zack Sullivan (Oil City/Oil City) doubled with a shot down the third baseline to bring Lang home. The blue and white would go into the second inning up 4-0. The Behrend Lions continued to put numbers on the board in the second when Fyffe singled to bring home runners at second and third, giving Behrend a 6-0 lead. With the bases loaded and no outs, Lang singled bringing in another Behrend run. The Redhawks would get on the board in the fourth bringing in one run and adding another in the fifth to cut the blue and white’s lead 7-2. In the bottom of the fifth, Tom Pasinski (West Mifflin/West Mifflin) ripped a shot to deep left field for a triple bringing home another run to make it an 11-2 final. Pitcher Chuck Zimoski (Oil City/Oil City) received the win for the men, giving up nine hits and only two runs in seven innings of pitching.
Game two began with La Roche getting on the board early in the second inning to go up 1-0. The Behrend Lions would quickly respond in the bottom of the inning, when Sullivan hit a sacrifice fly to bring Lang in from third and tie the game at one a piece. In the third, La Roche loaded the bases with Justin Alessio up to bat. Alessio hit a single, scoring two runners and putting the Redhawks up 3-1. Martin helped the blue and white answer back, hitting a double to deep right-center to bring in another run. Sullivan stepped up next for a base-hit over the short-stop, scoring Martin and evening the score at 3-3. The game remained tied until the bottom of the sixth inning. With a runner on first, Joe Brieter (Finleyville/Ringgold) hit a single and advanced to second on a throw. Jon Gray (State College/State College) was walked and Fyffe would step up with bases loaded to hit a rocket into the gap, clearing the bases and giving the men a 6-3 win. Pitcher Ben Cain (Venetia/Peters Township) received the win for his four innings of relief pitchgin. Cain only allowed one hit, while striking out four batters face.
The Behrend Lions (22-6, 12-0) will hit the field again tomorrow, April 20 when they take on the Frostburg Bobcats (13-11, 9-3) in another conference double-header. Games are set to begin at 1:00 p.m.