Beaver takes game one against Greater Allegheny, 9-7
| Final (10) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Penn State Beaver
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 0 |
|
Penn State Greater Allegheny
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | X | 7 | 13 | 3 |
By: Matylda Zamudio
TARENTUM, Pa.— The Penn State Beaver men's baseball team started its series off on the right foot by stealing a road win against PSUAC rival Penn State Greater Allegheny on Friday afternoon.
The Lions got off to a big 9-2 lead, but Greater Allegheny made it a tight race in the ninth. However, Beaver came out with the 9-7 win in the end.
The Lions started the game scoring in the top of third after junior Scott Hughes (Aliquippa/Central Valley) doubled off of a powerful hit to the outfield, driving-in freshman Kyle Redding (Gettysburg) from second and sophomore Stefan Romaniuk (Alpha/Notre Dame) from third for two Beaver runs (3-0). Greater Allegheny then cut Beaver's lead by one in the bottom of the inning (2-1) and tied the game in the bottom of the fourth at 2-2. After a quiet fifth inning for both teams, Beaver's batters got hot at the top of the sixth, starting with Francona hitting a homer on a fly ball to left field to advance Hughes (4-2). Beaver kept the momentum going by putting up five more runs, a two-out hit by Hughes, who singled on a fly ball to center field, advancing freshman Johnny Rowland (Wellsboro) from second and Romaniuk from third to score Beaver's final two runs of the game (9-2). Neither team scored until the bottom of the seventh when the men of Greater Allegheny look like they were going to make a comeback with five runs to cut Beaver's lead to 9-7. However, the Lions thwarted Greater Allegheny's final batter from scoring and won the game 9-7.
Hughes led the way for the Lions with 4 RBIs and went 4 for 5 at bat.
At the mound for Beaver was junior Justyn Francona (New Brighton), who scored the win after he pitched a complete nine innings. Francona allowed 13 hits and struck out five of the 42 batters he faced in the game.
After today's win against Greater Allegheny, Beaver is on a two-game winning streak and sits at a 10-14 record for the season and is 3-7 in the PSUAC conference.
The Lions will now face Greater Allegheny in a doubleheader for their last home game of the season on April 13. Game one is at 2 p.m. and game 2 is at 4 p.m.