BUFFALO, Ny: Pitt-Greensburg baseball's Greg Lynn (Ellwood City, PA, Ellwood City) picked up four hits in a Sunday sweep of Hilbert College to become the program's all-time career hits leader. He'd tally one hit in the 6-2 opening win followed by three more, including the record breaking 159th in a lopsided 14-2 victory in the nightcap.
A perfect 4-0 weekend trip to Buffalo improve the Bobcats to an overall 20-14 mark and 12-2 in conference play. Second place UPG trails only La Roche (13-1) while holding a two game advantage over third place Penn State Behrend (10-4) with just one conference doubleheader left to play before the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference playoffs begin.
Game One:
The Bobcats would find themselves trailing early after single runs in the first and second innings put the Hawks atop a 2-0 lead to start Sunday's doubleheader.
Pitt-Greensburg answered in the fourth with a Ryan Dodson (Bethel Park, PA, Bethel Park) two-run round tripper that knotted the score at 2-2. They'd wait until the sixth inning to take the lead, thanks to a Anthony Bozzuto (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) two-RBI double that brought in Chris Common (Trafford, PA, Penn-Trafford) and Ryan Dodson for a 4-2 Bobcat advantage.
Back-to-back one-run doubles by Lynn and Common in the seventh would provide two more UPG, runs adding the insurance needed to take the opener by a 6-2 score.
Brandon Rowland (Greensburg, PA, Greensburg Salem) earns his team-leading fifth win of the year after settling in after the early innings to hold the Hawks scoreless over the final five innings. On the day, he'd strike out seven Hilbert batters, while allowing two runs on just four hits in the complete game victory.
The Bobcats tallied nine hits in the win, with Ryan Dodson going an impressive 3-2 with two runs scored, two RBI, and a homerun.
Game Two:
For the second time in two days, UPG saved their best for last by opening up the offense in the nightcap. They'd notch 14 runs on 16 hits while holding Hilbert to just two runs scored.
After the Hawks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Pitt-Greenburg wasted little time to reply, getting things going in the top of the second. Bozzuto started the second off with a one-run double. He'd then come around to score on a Hawk passed ball to put the Bobcats up 2-1. Lynn capped the inning with a two-RBI single that stretched the UPG advantage to 4-1.
Hilbert would also add a run in the second to cut their deficit to 4-2, but that would be the last time a Hawk would cross home plate on the afternoon. On the other hand, Pitt-Greensburg would continue to score, adding 10 unanswered runs over the next seven innings to secure their second victory of the day by a 14-2 score.
Lynn's climb for the career hits lead continued in the latter innings. The record tying hit came in the seventh, with a two-run triple that put Pitt-Greensburg ahead 9-2. The record breaker was a single in the ninth, giving him 159 hits and moving him past Dylin Brooks whose 158 hits record stood for two seasons.
Lynn also helped the Bobcats to the nightcap victory with a 3-5 performance that included a triple, two runs scored, and a team-high four RBI. Common, Bozzuto, and Matt Germanoski (Ellwood City, PA, Ellwood City) also tallied three hits on the day with Bozzuto adding a pair of doubles and a team-high three runs scored.
Cam Smith (Mars, PA, Mars Area) matches Rowlands win's total with five after earning the game two win. Smith provided a seven inning start, allowing just one earned run on three Hilbert hits.
The Bobcats will enjoy a six day break before returning to Buffalo, NY to close out their conference tilt with a Saturday, April 29th doubleheader at Medaille College scheduled for a 1:00pm start.
