GREENSBURG- The Pitt-Greensburg baseball team split its home opener with Penn State Altoona, Thursday afternoon at Bobcat Park.
Thursday's games were the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opener for both teams. With the split, the Bobcats move to 6-4 on the season and 1-1 in conference play, while Altoona stands at 10-10 and 1-1 in the AMCC.
Penn State Altoona took the opening game by a score of 7-2, while the Bobcats came out on top in the nightcap 7-3.
Game 1- Penn State Altoona 7, Pitt-Greensburg 2
Aaron Sharp went the distance for the Lions scattering eight hits over seven strong innings of work and struck out five to earn his second win of the season. The two teams  completed the first inning of the game before torrential rain caused over an hour delay in play.
After the rain delay, Sharp was not affected by the time away from the field as he limited the Bobcats to just one run on two hits until the seventh inning, when the Bobcats struck for their second run of the game on four hits.
The Lions exploded for four runs in the second inning, but in the middle of the inning heavy rains started to fall, causing a long delay. The two teams took an inning to get going, but in the third Altoona struck for two more and held a 6-0 advantage after four innings.
Pitt-Greensburg got a run back in the sixth inning as
Chris Common and
Ryan Dodson smacked back-to-back doubles to begin the inning and
Tyler Holland plated the first run with an RBI sacrifice fly, but it was not enough as Penn State Altoona took the opening game 7-2.
Game 2- Penn State Altoona 3, Pitt-Greensburg 7
Matt Mish got the starting nod in game two and the freshman right hander went five innings and allowed just three runs on five hits and struck out four, to earn his second win of the season.
Dylan Pounds came on to close out the game and did not allow a hit over the final two innings and totaled four k's.
Pitt-Greensburg busted out the bats in game two as it struck for seven runs and totaled 10 hits to earn the split.
Mike Spadafore, Common, and
Zack Zimmerman each had multi-hit performances in the game, including Zimmerman and Common who had tallied two RBI.
Penn State Altoona struck first with a run in the top of the first, but the Bobcats would come right back and tie the game in the bottom of the inning.
Tyler Lilja reached first on an error by the Lion first baseman which scored Pounds. Pounds reached base earlier in the inning on a fielders choice.
The two teams each added two runs in the third and the game was all tied at three heading into the fourth.
Pitt-Greensburg put the game away with a three-run fourth inning. Common, Lilja, and Holland each recorded RBI's for the inning and Common launched a solo blast in the sixth to send the Bobcats to the 7-3 win.
Pitt-Greensburg returns to the diamond Sunday, when it plays host to D'Youville for a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m.
