LAJAS, PR: After claiming Tuesday's opener against Messiah, the Pitt-Greensburg baseball continued their winning ways with a 12-4 defeat of Penn State Abington.
Back-to-back wins by the Bobcats moves their record to 5-4 on the year. The defeat drops the Lions to 1-8.
Fresh off an exciting extra-inning victory, the Bobcats rode the emotions right into the nightcap with the Nittany Lions. They'd pick up right where they left off, scoring four first-inning runs highlighted with an Ian Hart (Lititz, PA, Warwick) two-run single that scored seniors Anthony Bozzuto (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) and Matt Germanoski (Ellwood City, PA, Ellwood City).
Abington grabbed a run back in the top of the second inning to cut into the Bobcat advantage, 4-1.
The Bobcats got back to work in the bottom of the fourth, centered around a bases loaded three-RBI double by Bozzuto that slid the score to 7-1. Dylan Pounds (Houston, PA, Chartiers-Houston) would follow with a RBI single, scoring Bozzuto and extending the UPG lead to 8-1.
The Lions scored a single run in the top of the fifth to move within six runs at 8-2.
Back-to-back doubles by Matt Moyer (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) and Bozzuto to start out the sixth stretched things back to seven runs. Germanoski backed it up with a one-run single that scored the second run of the inning and improved the Bobcat advantage to 10-2.
A pair of Penn State runs in the top of the seventh inning capped the Lions offense with four on the night.
Pitt-Greensburg added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to bring us to the 12-4 final.
The Bobcat bats combined for 13 hits in the nightcap with Bozzuto leading the way with a 2-3 performance that included team-highs in doubles (2), runs (3), and RBI (3). Moyer also tallied three RBI in the victory.
For the second straight game a freshman pitcher would pick up the win, with Cam Smith (Mars, PA, Mars Area) earning the game two triumph. He'd go six innings for his first career victory and allow two runs on four hits while striking out five Lion hitters. Travis Sanner (Dawson, PA, Frazier) stepped up in the seventh also allowing a pair of runs before making way for a shutout eighth inning by Adam Dodson (Bethel Park, PA, Bethel Park). Tyler Potutschnig (Flinton, PA, Glendale) closed out the ninth, sitting the Lions down quietly with just a walk allowed.
