Lions Top Terriers in Tuesday Tilt
AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Penn State Altoona baseball team resumed its RussMatt Central Florida Invitational schedule on Tuesday, when the Lions defeated Thomas College 12-7 at Mickey Etherton Field at Lake Myrtle Park.
Penn State Altoona (2-5) built a 6-0 advantage through the first one-and-a-half innings, but Thomas (0-4) surged back to tie the score 7-7 in the fourth. But the Lions quickly reclaimed the lead and blanked the Terriers the rest of the way to snap their three-game Florida skid.
Five different Lion hitters had a multi-hit game.
Jonathan Rauch (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) went 4-for-5 with three runs scored, two RBI, a walk, and a stolen base, and Judd Dasso (Brentwood, TN/Brentwood) hit 4-for-6 with two doubles, two runs scored, and two RBI.
Brian Chelli (West Hartford, CT/Hall) was 2-for-4 with a double, three runs scored, two stolen bases, and a walk. Aidan Donovan (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) was 2-for-6 with a double and two RBI, and Cole Strick (Windber, PA/Windber) went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.
Jarek Szaflarski (Greencastle, PA/Greencastle-Antrim) drew four walks, tying for the most walks in a game in team history, and Zach Ingold (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) walked three times.
Caden Force (Indiana, PA/Indiana) took the mound for Penn State Altoona and finished with a no-decision, tossing 3 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs, and striking out three batters. Michael Tedrick (Plum, PA/Plum) followed with 3 2/3 innings in relief, yielding two earned runs, striking out a pair, and recording his second win of the season. Sean Wing (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) shut the door with two scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and a walk and striking out two.
The Lions came out strong with a five-run top of the first. Rauch's RBI single to right center put his team on the board, and a double steal during the next at-bat allowed Chelli to score from third. Dasso came next with an RBI double to left center, extending Penn State Altoona's lead to three. One batter later, Strick contributed an RBI base hit to left and Donovan drove in a run with his double to left center, making it 5-0.
The Lions added a run to their total in the top of the second inning, when Chelli led off with a double and scored when Rauch followed with a single to right.
Thomas scored a run in the bottom of the second on an Aidan McMahon RBI single, but Penn State Altoona got that run back in the top of the fourth on a Donovan RBI single to left center, putting the Lions' lead at 7-1.
Thomas battled back to tie the score in the bottom of the fourth, capitalizing for six runs after the Terriers loaded the bases with one out. Hayden Dippner was hit by a pitch to drive in one run, and DJ Cagnina's two-run single up the middle further cut into Penn State Altoona's lead. Ajay Rychcik and Gavin Clark added RBI hits, while Zeke Rand delivered a sacrifice fly, and Thomas knotted the score at 7-7.
But Penn State Altoona answered in the next half-inning to retake the lead for good. RBI singles from Dasso and Strick put the Lions back in front, and Ingold drew a bases-loaded free pass to make it 10-7.
Devin Colón (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) added to Penn State Altoona's total in the sixth, when his sac fly scored Rauch to make it 11-7. The Lions made it 12-7 in the ninth, when David Wignot (Charlotte, NC/Lake Norman Charter) led off with a triple into the left-field corner and later scored on a sac bunt put down by Kobe Arrington (Baltimore, MD/St. Paul's).
Thomas threatened to start a rally in the bottom of the ninth, as the first two batters of the inning reached base. But Wing and the Lions tightened things up after that, getting two strikeouts and a groundout to ice the victory.
Penn State Altoona baseball heads into its second and final off-day of the week tomorrow before returning to action Thursday, March 12, with a single, 9-inning game against Penn State Abington at the Lake Myrtle Park main field. First pitch for that game is set for 10 a.m.
