Baseball Drops Two to Dominican to Start Florida Trip
AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Penn State Altoona baseball team began its week in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational on Saturday, when the Lions were swept in a doubleheader against Dominican University (Ill.) at Lake Myrtle Park.
Dominican (3-2) got out to an early lead in game one, eventually posting a 9-3 victory. Penn State Altoona (1-3) led for most of game two, only for the Stars to rally and deal the Lions a 5-4 loss in extra innings.
Game One: Dominican 9, Penn State Altoona 3
Dominican built a 6-0 lead through the first two innings, and the Lions were unable to make up enough ground the rest of the way. Penn State Altoona was limited to six hits in the loss, with the Lions scoring their three runs in the final two innings.
Tyreke Green (Altoona, PA/Altoona) was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, while Jake Hillard (State College, PA/State College) went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Jonathan Rauch (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) and James St. Laurent-Friend (Wake Forest, NC/Wake Forest) also had one hit apiece, with Rauch driving in a run.
Eli Wiles (Kittanning, PA/Armstrong) got the start at pitcher for Penn State Altoona and was saddled with the loss after tossing 4 2/3 innings and striking out five. Cole Brechbill (Hagerstown, MD/North Hagerstown) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief, and Caden Suba (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) tossed a scoreless frame with one strikeout.
Dominican scored three runs in the top of the first to secure an early lead. Grayson Downing led off with a base hit and later scored on a throwing error. CJ Kalekas' RBI triple and Niko Krecu's RBI single extended the Stars' advantage to 3-0.
Dominican doubled its lead in the second, thanks to a Quinton Schwartz two-run single and Zach Helein scoring on a throwing error.
The Stars made it 7-0 in the fourth, when Matt Galdi drove in a run with his sacrifice fly to left. Dominican tacked on two more runs in the fifth, getting a Braiden Galvin sac fly and a Helein RBI single.
Penn State Altoona broke through for its first run of the day in the bottom of the sixth. Hillard started the frame with a single to right, and Green followed with a double down the right field line. Rauch scored Hillard with his single into left field, and the Lions got on the board.
The Lions added two more runs in the seventh. Grayson McClain (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union) reached on a walk and later scored on a throwing error. One batter later, Green reached on an infield single, and Hillard came home on a throwing error during the play to make it 9-3.
Game Two: Dominican 5, Penn State Altoona 4 (F/8 innings)
Penn State Altoona worked its way out to a 3-0 lead after four innings, but Dominican tied the game with a three-run sixth and ultimately pulled out a 5-4 victory in extra innings.
Green had a 4-for-4 performance at the plate, finishing with a double, triple, and run scored. Corey Chamberlain (Claysburg, PA/Claysburg-Kimmel) was 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored. Tristan Holland (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) and McClain also finished with a hit each, and Holland had an RBI.
Sam Homan (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) started on the mound and finished with a no decision, pitching five innings and striking out eight batters. Sean Wing (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) pitched two innings out of the bullpen, and Mack Meengs (State College, PA/State College) added 2/3 inning.
The Lions nabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. With one out, Green doubled, and one out later, Chamberlain drove him in with a base hit through the left side.
Penn State Altoona upped its lead to 3-0 in the top of the fourth. Rauch reached on an error to start the frame, and Chamberlain's RBI double gave the Lions a two-run lead. Brian Chelli (West Hartford, CT/Hall) scored Chamberlain from third on the next play, grounding out to second to pick up an RBI and make it 3-0.
Dominican came back to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth. Galvin's two-run double to right-center cut Penn State Altoona's lead to one, and a throwing error later in the inning knotted the score at 3-3. Each team stranded runners on base in the seventh inning, and the game remained tied, sending the contest to extras.
Penn State Altoona jumped ahead in the top of the eighth, when Holland's two-out RBI single that dropped inside the left field line gave the Lions a 4-3 advantage. But Dominican answered in the bottom of the eighth, getting a walkoff, two-run single from Anthony Nalbono to deliver a 5-4 win for the Stars.
Penn State Altoona baseball returns to action tomorrow, Sunday, March 3, for day two of their week in the RussMatt Invitational. The Lions will face Trine University in a doubleheader at Lake Myrtle Park, with first pitch of game two set for 2:30 p.m.
