BUFFALO, Ny: The Pitt-Greensburg baseball settled for a doubleheader split at Medaille College on Friday, dropping the first game 7-6, but bouncing back for a 14-7 nightcap victory.
The Bobcats move to 21-16 overall and cap their Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference schedule with an impressive 13-3 mark, setting a new season high for conference wins. The Bobcats also claim their highest finish in school history after earning the #2 seed in the upcoming AMCC Championships, trailing only La Roche whose 28-8 record has them ranked #1 in the Mideast Region and #20 nationally.
Game One:
Pitt-Greensburg didn't wait long to open the afternoon's scoring, plating two top of the first inning runs to jump out to an early 2-0 lead. A Chris Common (Trafford, PA, Penn-Trafford) fielder's choice brought in Greg Lynn (Ellwood City, PA, Ellwood City) for the first Bobcat score followed by a Matt Germanoski (Ellwood City, PA, Ellwood City) sacrifice fly that then scored Common who was moved over to third by a Ryan Dodson (Bethel Park, PA, Bethel Park) double two batters prior.
Medaille notched their first run in the bottom of the second to cut into the UPG advantage 2-1.
The Bobcats answered back in the top third, thanks to a Germanoski triple that brought Anthony Bozzuto (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) home for a 3-1 score. The UPG lead would be short lived though, with the Mavericks picking up a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to knot things up at 3-3.
Four more Maverick runs followed in the bottom of the sixth, placing Medaille atop a 7-3 run heading into the seventh and final inning.
The Bobcats made their move in the top of the seventh, starting with a two-RBI double by Ryan Dodson that cut the deficit to 7-5, but only one more UPG run would cross home plate, ending the seventh inning rally a run short for the visitors.
Brandon Rowland (Greensburg, PA, Greensburg Salem) picks up the loss after going all six innings for the Bobcats. He'd strike out seven Mavericks while allowing seven runs, six earned on eight Medaille hits.
Ryan Dodson finished a perfect 3-3 in the opener adding a walk, two doubles, a run scored, and two RBI.
Game Two:
Much like the opener, Pitt-Greensburg jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Both runs came compliments of a Ryan Dodson two-RBI single that scored both Lynn and Matt Moyer.
The Mavericks also got on the board in the first, tallying three runs to move ahead 3-2.
The Bobcats got busy in the top of the third with a Ryan Dodson double, a Bozzuto sacrifice fly, a Mike Parlak (Connellsville, PA, Connellsville) line out, and a Adam Dodson (Bethel Park, PA, Bethel Park) single all netting RBI's to push Pitt-Greensburg to a 6-3 advantage.
The Mavericks answered with a three run rally in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 6-6.
Pitt-Greensburg answered promptly in the top of the fourth with back-to-back one run singles by Ryan Dodson and Bozzuto followed by a two-RBI double by Parlak. Adam Dodson capped the four run fourth with a sacrifice fly that scored Germanoski for an 11-6 Bobcat lead.
Three more runs by UPG in the fifth would stretch the score to 14-6 with Ryan Dodson, Bozzuto, and Germanoski each picking up a RBI in the inning.
Medaille would get one run back in the bottom of the eighth, but it would be too little too late, as the Bobcats cruised to the 14-7 nightcap win.
Cam Smith (Mars, PA, Mars Area) improves to a team-best 6-1 from the mound with a six inning performace that saw him allow six runs, four earned on six hits with three K's. Joe Zufall (Bethel Park, PA, Bethel Park) stepped in for the seventh and eighth, striking out two and giving up a run before making way for Ian Hart (Lititz, PA, Warwick) to throw a scoreless ninth.
Ryan Dodson continued his hot hitting, going 4-5 with a double, three runs scored, and a team-high five RBI in the win. Dylan Pounds (Houston, PA, Chartiers-Houston) and Bozzuto would also finish among the top performers each picking up three hits in the nightcap. Pounds would also tally three runs scored while Bozzuto added three RBI.
The Bobcats are off the rest of the weekend, returning to action on Thursday, May 5th with a trip to Saint Vincent College for a 3:00pm game for their final tune up before entering the AMCC Baseball Championships.
