PITTSBURGH, Pa: The Pitt-Greensburg baseball team opened their Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference postseason tournament with a 7-4 loss to Penn State Behrend on Thursday.
The defeat drops the #2 Bobcats to 22-18 on the year while the #3 Lions improve to 28-14.
Pitt-Greensburg wasted little time getting on the board, needing just two batters to plate the first run of the day. After Greg Lynn (Ellwood City, PA, Ellwood City) tripled on the first pitch of the game, Chris Common (Trafford, PA, Penn-Trafford) followed with a fielder's choice to put UPG atop an early 1-0 lead.
The Bobcats doubled their lead two innings later, thanks to an Anthony Bozzuto (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) RBI-double that brought in Dylan Pounds (Houston, PA, Chartiers-Houston) in the bottom of the third.
The Lions knotted things at 2-2 after picking up a pair of fifth inning runs. They'd back it up with two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to jump out to a 6-2 advantage.
Pitt-Greensburg also picked up a pair of runs in the seventh, both coming from a Bozzuto single that brought Pounds and Common across home plate for a 6-4 score.
Penn State Behrend tallied an insurance run in the top of the ninth, then sat the Bobcats down one-two-three in the bottom of the inning to bring us to the 7-4 final.
There was no separation in hits with UPG and the Lions each picking up nine. Pitt-Greensburg was led by Pounds 3-5 performance including two runs scored and Bozzuto's 2-4 output that included a double and a team-high three RBI.
Brandon Rowland (Greensburg, PA, Greensburg Salem) picks up the loss, evening his record at 5-5 on the year. Rowland dealt with a strict strike zone, forcing six walks and five hits in 6.2 innings of work. He'd allow six runs on six hits before making way for freshman Joe Zufall (Bethel Park, PA, Bethel Park) to finish out the game. Zufall would surrender one run on four hits in the relief effort.
Pitt-Greensburg continues their quest for their first AMCC Championship in the bottom of the bracket. They'll begin with a 9:00am, Friday elimination game against #1 La Roche, who was upset 7-5 by #4 Mount Aloysius Thursday afternoon.
