ALTOONA, PA: After dropping a tight 3-2 decision in the opener, the Bobcat baseball team bounced back to hand the Lions a 16-9 defeat in game two of Thursday's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference doubleheader.
With the split, Pitt-Greensburg's conference record remains even at 2-2 as their overall mark moves to 8-7-1. Penn State Altoona now sits at 2-4 in the AMCC and 7-13 on the season.
Game 1The opener would see an outright pitcher's duel as the Bobcats and Lions would combine for just five runs in seven innings of play, with the game being settled on a walkoff hit by Penn State Altoona.
Pitt-Greensburg would open the day's scoring on a
Matt Germanoski (Ellwood City, PA, Ellwood City) RBI single in the top of the first, giving them an early 1-0 lead. UPG would double the lead one inning later when
Dylan Pounds (Houston, PA, Chartiers-Houston) placed a one-run double to right field to score reigning AMCC Player of the Week,
Mike Maleski (Pittsburgh, PA, Plum).
Penn State Altoona would answer with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second to knot the score at 2-2.
Four scoreless innings would follow until a Lion's two-out single brought in the game winning run and secured the 3-2 victory for Altoona.
Pitt-Greensburg would tally seven hits in game one with catcher,
Anthony Bozzuto (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) leading the way with a 3-4 performance.
Cory Deighan (Bethel Park, PA, Seton-La Salle) would give the Bobcats a strong start on the mound, going six innings and allowing two runs on four hits while striking out seven batters.
Billy Elliott (Ligonier, PA, Ligonier Valley) would be charged with the loss, his first of the season, after allowing one run on one hit in the seventh inning.
Game 2The Bobcat bats would catch fire in the nightcap as 16 runs would cross home plate on 20 UPG hits.
Pitt-Greensburg would once again take an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when a
Chad Jacob (Bridgeville, PA, Chartiers Valley) RBI groundout would bring
Greg Lynn (Ellwood City, PA, Ellwood City) home. The Lions would promptly answer with three first inning runs and one in the second to give the home team a 4-1 advantage.
The top of the third would see UPG plate their second run after Lynn reached on an error and promptly stole second base to place him in scoring position. Pounds would then send a single to centerfield to bring the score to 4-2.
John Buerkle (Jacksonville, FL, Fletcher) would score the Bobcats' third run in the top of the fifth inning after taking full advantage of a Lion wild pitch and making the break from third base.
A nine run sixth by Pitt-Greensburg would change the complexion of the game and give the visitors a 12-4 advantage. All in all the Bobcats would tally eight hits in the inning that included doubles by
Matt Moyer (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield), Maleski, and
Anthony Maroadi (North Huntingdon, PA, Norwin) with a Jacob one-run homerun and a Maleski three RBI homer.
Altoona would answer with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to bring the deficit to 12-6 followed by three more in the seventh to bring the score to 12-9.
Another wild pitch by the Lions would result in a Germanoski score in the eighth inning to stretch the Bobcat lead to 13-9.
Pitt-Greensburg would cap the scoring in the ninth adding three more runs to secure the split with a 16-9 game two victory. Maroadi, Buerkle, and Pounds would all pick up an RBI in the ninth inning.
Moyer put forth an impressive 4-5 performance in the win while adding two doubles, two RBI, and two runs scored. Maleski wasn't far behind after going 3-5 with a double, a homerun, two runs scored and three RBI.
Brandon Rowland (Greensburg, PA, Greensburg Salem) earned the win, pitching the game's first five innings and allowing four runs, only one earned, with four strikeouts.
Brandon Hoener (Pittsburgh, PA, Plum) would pitch the next 1.2 inning before being relieved by
Adam Dodson (Bethel Park, PA, Bethel Park) and Pounds who would combine for 2.1 innings of scoreless relief work.
The Bobcats will continue conference play this weekend, travelling to Pitt-Bradford for a 1:00pm doubleheader with the Panthers.
