CLAYSBURG, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona baseball team started its Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference schedule with a pair of losses on Saturday afternoon, when the Lions were swept by league opponent Penn State Behrend in a doubleheader at Claysburg-Kimmel High School.

Behrend (10-4, 2-0 AMCC) held off the Lions for an 8-3 win in game one, then posted a more lopsided win, 16-6, over Penn State Altoona (7-9, 0-2 AMCC) to seal the sweep.

Game One: Penn State Behrend 8, Penn State Altoona 3

Behrend scored the day's first run in the first inning, but the Lions struck back with two in the second to take the lead. However, the visitors reclaimed their lead with a three-run third and added a four-run fifth, going on to defeat Penn State Altoona by five.

Aidan Donovan (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) went 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBI, and Owen Dombrosky (Hollidaysburg, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) was also 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run scored, and a walk. Judd Dasso (Brentwood, TN/Brentwood) had a double, and Jarek Szaflarski (Greencastle, PA/Greencastle-Antrim) had a single, a run scored, and a walk.

Andrew Crouse (Mercersburg, PA/James Buchanan) started game one at pitcher and suffered the loss, after tossing 4 2/3 innings and striking out three batters. Sean Wing (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) added 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief, allowing just one walk and punching out three.

Behrend went up 1-0 in the top of the first on a Paul Connolly RBI single with two outs.

Penn State Altoona got a big two-out hit of its own in the bottom of the second inning to leap in front. Dombrosky led off with a single, Zach Ingold (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) followed with a walk, and Devin Colón (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt. After a strikeout, Donovan tripled into the right-center gap to score both runners and give the Lions a 2-1 advantage.

But Behrend answered with three runs in the top of the third. RBI singles from Thomas Nicely and Adam Cooper, along with a Connolly run-scoring groundout to second, put the visitors on top, 5-2.

Behrend added to its lead in the top of the fifth, using solo homers to left by Nicely and Connolly, as well as a David Gibson two-run single up the middle, to make it 8-2.

The Lions picked up a run in the bottom half of the fifth, when Szaflarski started the inning with a walk and came around to score on Dombrosky's two-out base hit to right center. But Penn State Altoona was unable to gain any more traction at the plate, and the Lions lost game one by five runs.

Game Two: Penn State Behrend 16, Penn State Altoona 6 (Final/8 innings)

Behrend had a big game at the plate, producing 16 runs on 19 hits to power past Penn State Altoona in a 10-run-rule shortened game.

Donovan was one of three Lions with a two-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored. Brian Chelli (West Hartford, CT/Hall) was also 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and a stolen base, and Dombrosky hit 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored.

Colón, Ingold, and Szaflarski each had a hit and a run scored, and Dasso swiped a pair of bases.

Michael Labisi (Mountainside, NJ/Governor Livingston) started on the mound for game two and took the loss after three innings of work. Eric Seick (Mount Laurel, NJ/Camden Catholic) tossed three innings in relief after that, and Michael Tedrick (Plum, PA/Plum) followed with two innings out of the pen.

Behrend made it 2-0 in the top of the first on a two-run home run to left from Nicely, and Silvio Ionadi's two-run homer to left center in the second made it 4-0. Nicely added an RBI single to right later in the second to extend the visitors' lead to five.

After a Tyler Burick RBI single to center gave Behrend a 6-0 advantage in the top of the third, Penn State Altoona got on the board in the bottom half of the third. Chelli led off the frame with a double to left, and he scored one batter later on Dombrosky's RBI double down the right-field line.

The score remained 6-1 until Behrend tacked two more runs on to its total in the top of the sixth, using an Ionadi RBI single to right and a Dylan Barnes sacrifice fly to center to make it 8-1.

Penn State Altoona got three runs back in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Colón doubled to left, moved up to third on an error, and scored on Donovan's single to left center. One batter later, Szaflarski reached on an infield hit, and a throwing error during the play put both he and Donovan into scoring position. Dasso reached on another infield throwing error in the next at-bat, allowing Donovan and Szaflarski to score and narrow the Behrend lead to 8-4.

Behrend countered with four runs in the top of the seventh, getting RBI singles from Burick, Ionadi, and Barnes while scoring another run on a fielding error.

The Lions got two runs across in the bottom of the seventh. Dombrosky led off with a single up the middle, then scored on Ingold's RBI double down the right-field line. After a Colón walk, Donovan's RBI double to left center made it 12-6.

Behrend increased its lead to 10 runs in the top of the eighth, however. Cayden Turner's RBI single preceded a three-run homer from Burick that upped the visitors' advantage to 16-6. Behrend held Penn State Altoona scoreless in the bottom of the eighth and won game two in eight innings via the 10-run rule.

Next up, Penn State Altoona baseball returns to non-conference play at home next Thursday, March 26, when the Lions will host Wilson College for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.