GROTTOES, Va. – The Penn State Altoona baseball team began its 2025 schedule on the road Sunday afternoon, winning both games of a doubleheader against non-conference opponent Mary Baldwin University at Shifflett Field.

The Lions (2-0) pulled out a 10-9 victory in game one, then had a more comfortable win over Mary Baldwin (0-2) in game two, prevailing by a score of 10-3.

Game One: Penn State Altoona 10, Mary Baldwin 9

Penn State Altoona won its first game of the season, prevailing over Mary Baldwin by one run in a back-and-forth contest.

Jake Hillard (State College, PA/State College) was 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI, and two runs scored. Tyreke Green (Altoona, PA/Altoona) went 2-for-3 with two RBI, two runs scored, a walk, and a stolen base.

Corey Chamberlain (Claysburg, PA/Claysburg-Kimmel) went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and four RBI. Alex Hlivia (Pennsylvania Furnace, PA/State College) scored three runs, and Harrison Knaupe (Smyrna, DE/Smyrna) scored two runs.

Eric Seick (Mount Laurel, NJ/Camden Catholic) started on the mound and took a no decision after going 3 1/3 innings, yielding only two earned runs, and striking out a pair. Sean Wing (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) got the win for the Lions after tossing three innings in relief and recording four strikeouts. Chamberlain shut the door, pitching the final 2/3 inning to pick up a save.

Penn State Altoona scored the game's first run in the top of the first inning. Hillard led off with a base hit, moved up to second on Green's sacrifice bunt, then went to third on a passed ball. One batter later, Brian Chelli (West Hartford, CT/Hall) delivered a sac fly to right, plating Hillard to make it 1-0.

Mary Baldwin tied the score in the bottom of the first, thanks to a two-out error that scored Jacob Barber from first base.

The Lions got back on top in the next half inning. Knaupe led off by reaching safely on an infield error, then went to second on an Aidan Donovan (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) sac bunt. With two outs, Hillard doubled to score Knaupe and give Penn State Altoona a 2-1 advantage going into the bottom of the second.

The Lions added to their lead in the fourth. Knaupe started the frame with a single and moved into scoring position after another Donovan sacrifice. Hlivia followed that with a base hit to put runners at the corners, and Hillard's groundout to shortstop scored Knaupe to make it 3-1. After a Green single and a Zach Ingold (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) walk loaded the bases, Chamberlain reached on an error that allowed Hlivia to score, increasing Penn State Altoona's advantage to three runs, 4-1.

Mary Baldwin answered in the home half of the fourth by surging ahead, helped by four Lion errors. A one-out error gave the Squirrels a base runner, and Trevor Hebner hit a two-run homer to cut Penn State Altoona's lead to one. Two more Lion errors put a pair of runners on again for Mary Baldwin, and Grayson Moore's RBI single knotted the score at 4-4. One batter later, a fourth Penn State Altoona error allowed the go-ahead run to score for Mary Baldwin with two outs, putting the home team ahead 5-4.

The Lions reclaimed the lead in the sixth, however. After Hlivia was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, he moved up to second on an error and then scored on Green's RBI single, tying the game at 5-5. Green swiped second base and later scored on Cole Strick's (Windber, PA/Windber) RBI double to give Penn State Altoona a 6-5 advantage.

The lead changed hands again in the bottom half of the sixth. Will Earnesty's run-scoring single tied the score at six runs apiece, before a Tyler Smith three-run home run put Mary Baldwin back on top, 9-6.

Penn State Altoona struck back in the top of the seventh to work its way back in front. With one out, Donovan and Hlivia drew walks, and Hillard's single loaded the bases. Green followed with a walk of his own to bring one run in, and with two outs one batter later, Chamberlain cleared the bases with a three-run double, putting the Lions up 10-9.

Mary Baldwin threatened in the bottom of the seventh, putting two runners aboard with just one out. But Chamberlain worked out of the jam, inducing a game-ending double play to seal the Lions' victory in game one of the twinbill.

Game Two: Penn State Altoona 10, Mary Baldwin 3

The Lions jumped on Mary Baldwin early and took control of the game, getting out to a 10-2 lead after three innings and ultimately defeating the Squirrels by seven.

Chamberlain went 3-for-4 with a double, three RBI, three runs scored, and a walk. Jimmy Mento (Gates County, NC/Gates County) was 2-for-4 with three RBI. Green and Ingold each finished with three runs scored, a pair of walks, and a hit.

Eli Wiles (Kittanning, PA/Armstrong) made the start on the rubber and picked up the win, going four innings and holding Mary Baldwin to three runs while striking out four batters. Cole Suba (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) tossed two scoreless innings in relief with two strikeouts, and Michael Labisi (Mountainside, NJ/Governor Livingston) pitched a scoreless seventh and struck out a pair.

Penn State Altoona put four runs on the board in the top of the first. Green and Ingold drew back-to-back walks, and Chamberlain drove them both in with a double. Chelli followed that with an RBI single, and a Mary Baldwin miscue later in the frame allowed him to score, giving the Lions a 4-0 advantage.

The Lions added on in the top of the second. Green and Ingold led off the frame by again drawing walks, and Chamberlain's RBI base hit scored Green. Joe O'Connor (West Grove, PA/Avon Grove) later delivered an RBI single to score Ingold, and Chamberlain came home on Mento's RBI base hit that extended the Penn State Altoona advantage to 7-0.

Mary Baldwin got on the board in the bottom of the second, scoring one run on a double play and getting another home on Earnesty's RBI single.

But the Lions boosted their run total to double digits in the top of the third. Green led off with a hit, then scored on Ingold's RBI single. Chamberlain walked after that, and two outs later, Mento came through with a two-run single to make it 10-2.

Mary Baldwin added a run to its total in the bottom of the fourth, getting an RBI single from Isiah Brooks to make it 10-3. But that closed the scoring for the day, as Penn State Altoona put up three scoreless frames the rest of the way to finish with a seven-run win to clinch the doubleheader sweep.

Penn State Altoona baseball continues its schedule on the road this Wednesday, February 26, when the Lions will head west to take on non-conference opponent Waynesburg University in a doubleheader. Game one first pitch is set for 1 p.m.