AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Penn State Altoona baseball held a 10-2 lead halfway through Tuesday's game against the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth at Lake Myrtle Park, but the Corsairs rallied to defeat the Lions in walkoff fashion by a final score of 12-11 in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.

Penn State Altoona (3-4) held an eight-run advantage heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, but UMD (4-0) came back to eventually win on a walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth.

Four Lion hitters finished the day with a multi-hit performance, including three players who recorded three-hit games.

Jonathan Rauch (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) went 3-for-3 with two runs batted in, two walks, and a run scored. Richard Carey (Milton, DE/Cape Henlopen) finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two walks, and Grayson McClain (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union) was 3-for-5 with three runs scored, one RBI, and one walk.

Corey Chamberlain (Claysburg, PA/Claysburg-Kimmel) went 2-for-5 with a run, an RBI, and a walk, and Garrett Alauzen (Pittsburgh, PA/Chartiers Valley) finished the day with three RBI.

Mack Meengs (State College, PA/State College) started on the mound for the Lions and finished with a no decision, after the left-hander pitched 4 2/3 innings and yielded four earned runs while fanning five batters. Cameron Dubbs (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) tossed two innings in relief, and Alex Kitko (Houtzdale, PA/Moshannon Valley) pitched the final 1 2/3 innings to take the loss.

Penn State Altoona got three runs across in the top of the first inning to nab an early lead. Chamberlain's RBI single got things started, and Rauch and Zach Ingold (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) followed with bases-loaded walks to make it 3-0.

UMD answered in the bottom of the first when DJ Perron's RBI double cut his team's deficit to two, 3-1. In the third inning, Andrew Bryant scored on an error to bring the Corsairs within one run, 3-2.

The Lions expanded their lead in the top of the fifth, scoring seven runs with two outs to establish an eight-run advantage. With two away, back-to-back RBI singles through the right side by Alex Hlivia (Pennsylvania Furnace, PA/State College) and McClain made it 5-2. One batter later, Alauzen delivered a two-run single to right, and Carey scored on a throwing error during the play to give Penn State Altoona a six-run lead. After a pair of walks, Rauch's RBI single brought in another run, and Jake Hillard (State College, PA/State College) scored on an infield error to make it 10-2.

UMD narrowed the difference to five runs in the bottom half of the fifth, when Perron's two-run double down the left field line and Matt Tempone's RBI single up the middle made it 10-5.

Penn State Altoona got a run back in the top of the sixth, when McClain reached on an error and later scored on Alauzen's sacrifice fly to left.

But the Corsairs continued to chip away at the Lions' lead, scoring three more runs in the seventh on RBI singles from Perron, T.J. Keefe, and Chase Stafford. UMD tied the game 11-11 in the bottom of the eighth, when a two-run homer from Perron and an RBI single from Keefe evened the score.

Perron completed the Corsairs' comeback in the bottom of the ninth, driving in the game-winning run with his base hit to left to hand the Lions a tough loss.

Penn State Altoona will now head into its second and final day off tomorrow, and the Lions get back to action on Thursday, March 9 with a single, nine-inning contest against Ursinus College at 9 a.m. at Lake Myrtle Park.