Baseball Splits Twinbill with Penn State Behrend

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- The Bridgewater State University baseball team split a doubleheader with Penn State Behrend on Thursday afternoon on Vero Beach. The Bears took the first game, 11-7, in ten innings, while the Lions earned the split with a 10-3 victory in the nightcap.

Bridgewater State moves to 3-5 on the season-opening Florida swing with one game remaining. The Bears wrap up the trip on Friday morning at 9:00 AM against Penn State Greater Allegheny.

In the opener, the Bears pushed across four runs in the top of the tenth inning to come away with the win. 

Trailing 4-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Lions loaded the bases with two outs when David Boehme (Venetia, Pa.) reached on an infield error which plated two runs and sent the game into extra innings.

Neither team scored in the eighth. In the ninth, Bridgewater pushed across three runs on a two-run double by Nick White (Bellingham, Mass.) and wild pitch.  Penn State, however, answered with three runs of its own on a wild pitch and a two-run double off the bat of Corey Bowers (Westlake, Ohio).

In the tenth, Anthony Deleo (Athol, Mass.) led off the frame with a walk. Pinch runner Devin Sanders (Fall River, Mass.) moved to second on a balk, to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored when Sean Brooks (Braintree, Mass.) reached on an error. Jacob Souza (Acushnet, Mass.) followed with a base hit, and, after an out, back-to-back walks by Keaghan Austin-MacInnis (Lakeville, Mass.) and White forced in Brooks with the second run of the inning. A walk by Scott O'Brien (East Bridgewater, Mass.) sandwiched around two more balks capped of the scoring in the frame as Souza and Austin-MacInnis both crossed the plate.

Chris Pessotti (Burlington, Mass.) came on with two runners on and two outs in the tenth and fanned the only batter he faced to earn the save.

Penn State pitchers allowed just five hits in the game, but also walked 13 batters and hit three.

Ryan Colbert (Medford, Mass.) picked up his first collegiate win for the Bears as he recorded the final two outs of the ninth inning.

Souza went 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored to highlight the BSU offense. White finished with four RBI, while O'Brien walked four times in six plate appearances. Travis Ritchie (Taunton, Mass.) went 1-for-3 with two walks, two runs and an RBI, while Austin-MacInnis (1-for-5) also scored two runs and drove in one.

John Hlavinka (Venetia, Pa.) went 3-for-5 with a walk, a stolen base and two runs scored to pace the Lions, whike Bohman finished 2-for-4 with a pair of walks, three runs and a stolen base.

Startere Alex Hajduk (Cranberry Township, Pa.) worked 3 1/3 scoreless innings for Penn State but was forced to leave the game due to injury. Hajduk did not give up a hit, but did walk five batters.

Andrew Quiggle (Erie, Pa.) was saddled with the loss in relief for the Lions.

In game two, Penn State held a slim one-run lead (3-2) after five innings of play, but then put the game out of reach with a five-run sixth inning en route to the 10-3 victory.

Justin Rohrer (Harrisburg, Pa.) picked up his first win of the season on the mound for the Lions. Rohrer (1-0) allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.

Hlavinka and Justin Dilla (South Park, Pa.) paced the Penn State offense. Hlavinka doubled, singled and walked in five plate appearances, scored two runs and drove in four. Dilla was on base four times as he went 2-for-2, walked, got hit by a pitch, stole two bases, scored three runs and knocked in one.

Brian Bohman (Erie, Pa.) also reached safely three times for the Lions as he went 2-for-4 with a walk, a run and two RBI.

Reed Pike (Bellingham, Mass.) and Billy Mitchell (Walpole, Mass.) notched two hits apiece to lead the Bears. Pike double and tripled in four at bats and drove in a run.  Mitchell also went 2-for-4 at the dish.

Shane Surette (Haverhill, Mass.) was saddled with the loss for the Bears.  BSU pitchers were tagged for ten runs (seven earned) on ten hits with six walks and three hit batters.