Auburndale, FL: The Pitt-Greensburg baseball team battled to a split with Iowa Wesleyan on Wednesday, securing game 1 in dramatic fashion but falling in an absolute slugfest of a second game.
Game 1A complete game pitching performance by
Brandon Rowland (Greensburg, PA, Greensburg Salem) coupled with a
Tyler Lilja (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) extra inning walk-off homerun would lead to a 5-3 triumph in the opener.
After three scoreless innings of baseball, the Tigers would be the first to get on the board with a pair of fourth inning runs to take the early 2-0 lead.
Pitt-Greensburg would answer in the bottom of the fifth after a
Greg Lynn (Ellwood City, PA, Ellwood City) two-run single through the right side scored
Anthony Maroadi (North Huntingdon, PA, Norwin) and
Matt Moyer (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) to knot things up at 2-2. One batter later, the Bobcats would plate their third run of the inning thanks to a
Dylan Pounds (Houston, PA, Chartiers-Houston) single that brought in Lynn.
The lead would be short lived though, with Iowa Wesleyan once again bringing the game to a stalemate with a sixth inning run scored.
The score would remain the same until the bottom of the eighth with the Bobcats at bat. With one out and one one, Lilja would step to the plate and send a towering two-run shot over the left field fence to round the bases and secure the 5-3 victory for Pitt-Greensburg.
Lilja's heroics were possible thanks to a standout pitching performance by Rowland. He'd last all eight innings in the victory, allowing six hits, three runs, two earned, while striking out seven batters and not allowing a single walk.
Lilja and Lynn would lead the way with a pair of RBI each as Pounds and Moyer would pace UPG with two hits apiece.
Game 2The second game would be a different story as both teams would score early and often. The Tigers would strike first with two first inning runs to once again go up 2-0.
The Bobcats would counter with three runs in the second starting with a
Mike Parlak (Connellsville, PA, Connellsville) fielder's choice that scored Lilja to open the inning's scoring. A
Cody Menges (Belle Vernon, PA, Belle Vernon) one run single would plate UPG's next run followed by a Pounds RBI single to score their third.
Two more Iowa Wesleyan runs would come with their opportunity in the bottom of the inning to once again give the Tigers a two run advantage at 5-3.
A
Matt Germanoski (Ellwood City, PA, Ellwood City) solo homerun would kick off a big five-run third inning for the Bobcats with
Mike Maleski (Pittsburgh, PA, Plum), Parlak, and Menges all crossing home to swing the advantage to 8-5 in favor of UPG.
The Tigers would once again answer, scoring four runs in both the third and fourth to regain the lead at 13-8.
Back to back doubles by Maroadi and Pounds followed by a two run Lilja homerun would once again tie things up in the top of the fifth as five runs in total would come across for a 13-13 score.
Unfortunately for the Bobcats, Iowa Wesleyan would tally four more runs over the next two innings to capture the 17-13 final.
Despite the loss, Pitt-Greensburg would tally 13 hits in Game 2 with Pounds posting a 4-5 performance that included a double, one run scored and five RBI.
The Bobcats will close out their annual Florida trip tomorrow with a single nine inning game against New England College at 10:00am.
