Behrend Lions Split With Pitt-Bradford in AMCC Doubleheader
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.
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.
