GREENSBURG, PA: The Pitt-Greensburg baseball team helped honor their 2015 senior class by picking up two ever important Allegheny Mountain Collegiate wins over visiting Medaille College. The Bobcats would earn the senior day sweep with a 9-6 opening game win followed by an 8-5 victory in the nightcap.
After Sunday's results, Pitt-Greensburg improves to 18-14-1 overall and 8-6 in the AMCC. This moves them into sole possession of fourth place, setting up a huge Monday doubleheader with branch campus rival Pitt-Bradford who currently resides in fifth place with a 7-6 mark. Medaille falls to 11-17 on the year and 4-10 in conference play. The Mavericks now move to seventh in the conference with one doubleheader left to play.
Game 1:After falling behind by a 2-0 score, the Bobcats would get on the board in the bottom of the second inning. A
Dylan Pounds (Houston, PA, Chartiers-Houston) sacrifice fly would score
Matt Germanoski (Ellwood City, PA, Ellwood City) from third for a 2-1 score.
A big bottom of the third would bring in four more runs starting with a
Matt Moyer (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) sacrifice fly that tied things up at 2-2. An extremely high hit ball by
Chad Jacob (Bridgeville, PA, Chartiers Valley) would follow, forcing an error on the Maverick left fielder giving
Anthony Bozzuto (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) the chance make the break all the way from first base to home. Germanoski would then deliver a two-run blast over the left field fence to bring the advantage to 5-2.
Pitt-Greensburg would add a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth on a Mike Maleski two-RBI single to centerfield that scored both Bozzuto and Jacob.
The top of the sixth would see Medaille answer with two runs of their own, bringing themselves within three at 7-4.
UPG would once again extend their lead back to five in the bottom of the inning with a Bozzuto sacrifice fly that scored
Anthony Maroadi (North Huntingdon, PA, Norwin) followed by a balk on the Medaille pitcher that brought Moyer in from third base. With just the seventh to play, the Bobcats would now hold a 9-5 lead.
The Mavericks would make things interesting after adding a pair of seventh inning runs before Pounds would take the mound and record the final three outs to earn his second save of the season.
Brandon Rowland (Greensburg, PA, Greensburg Salem) picked up the win after giving UPG 5.2 innings in the start. He'd allow four runs, three earned on five hits while striking out five.
Adam Dodson (Bethel Park, PA, Bethel Park) would pick up the final out in the sixth and start the seventh before making way for Pounds to shut down Medaille on his way to the save.
The Bobcats would spread nine hits over the lineup with Maleski leading the way with three while tying Germanoski with a team-high two RBI. Germanoski would add two runs scored along with Bozzuto, Jacob, and Maroadi who also picked up a pair of runs each in the opener.
Game 2:Two and a half scoreless innings would lead off the nightcap, but Pitt-Greensburg would break that trend in a hurry. In the bottom of the third, Moyer would double then advance to third one batter later on a Bozzuto groundout. Back to back double by Jacob and Germanoski would plate the game's first two runs followed by a Maleski single to bring in the third. Pounds followed up with a RBI triple to give the Bobcats a 4-0 lead.
A
Tyler Lilja (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) RBI double in the bottom of the fifth would stretch the score to 5-0.
The Bobcats would add three more runs in the seventh starting with a Pounds one-run double to centerfield that scored Maleski. Pounds wouldn't be on base long thanks to towering two-run homer by Lilja over the leftfield fence that extended the UPG advantage to 8-0.
Medaille would get busy in the top of the eighth, scoring four runs to cut their deficit in half at 8-4. They'd add another run in the ninth, but once again Pitt-Greensburg would call on Pounds to take to the rubber with one runner on and the tying run on deck. He'd answer the call and strike out the final Maverick batter on his way to his second save of the day.
Cory Deighan (Bethel Park, PA, Seton-La Salle) earned the win going seven innings and striking out eight. He'd be charged with four runs on seven hits before handing the ball to
Zach Fodor (West Mifflin, PA, West Mifflin) to finish out the eighth.
Eddie Schuessler (Pittsburgh, PA, Carrick) and Dodson would each record an out in the ninth before making way for Pounds to finish things up.
Jacob would tally three of the Bobcats 13 hits while Moyer, Germanoski, Lilja, and Pounds all picked up two. Lilja added a team-high three RBI and Maleski scored a team-high three runs.
The playoff bound Bobcats are right back at it tomorrow with a 1:00pm AMCC doubleheader at Pitt-Bradford with a lot on the line. A pair of wins would all but ensure fourth place and their second straight home playoff game. A split would make things interesting depending on the outcome of a Bradford make-up game with second place Penn State Behrend on Tuesday, April 28
th.
