Lions Split Opening Day With EMU, Palmer Helps Lead Behrend to First Win With First Homerun

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team opened their season by splitting a pair with Eastern Mennonite University. The Lions came from behind and grabbed their first win of the season in as many games but dropped the back end of the double dip.

Final Scores:

Game 1: Penn State Behrend 5, EMU 3
Game 2: EMU 7, Penn State Behrend 5

Records: Penn State Behrend 1-1, EMU 2-3

Game One:

* Thomas Zbezinski (Gibsonia, PA/Pine Richland) got the opening-day start for the Lions, going four innings while allowing three runs on four hits and striking out six
* Chase Palmer (Brookeville, PA/Brookeville) drove in the first baserunners of the day with a two-RBI single to narrow the Royals lead to 3-2
* Anthony Slate (Hopewell, PA/Hopewell) tied it later in the inning, driving home a run with a base-hit up the middle
* Palmer hit his first round-tripper of the season, driving in two runs with a go-ahead home run in the sixth
* Ryan Weaver (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) picked up the win, tossing three strong innings in relief, allowing just two hits
* Six different players registered a hit with Slate and Palmer leading the team with two

Game Two:

* Jake Deitz (Erie, PA/McDowell) had a team-high three hits
* Behrend struck first in the second frame as Palmer reached on an error, scoring Juston Jones (Moon Township, PA/Moon)
* Starter Derrick Shields (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) was chased out in the third inning, allowing five runs on six hits
* In the fifth frame, Mac Ciocco (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) drove in a run via base hit and Palmer followed suit to knot it up 5-5
* EMU tallied runs in the fifth and sixth and closed out the victory, splitting the day with the Lions

Up Next:

* Behrend will be off until next Sunday, March 6 when the Lions head south for their annual spring trip
* The Behrend Lions open play in Fort Pierce, FL with a single nine-inning game against Kenyon