AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Penn State Altoona baseball team ended its Florida trip with a pair of losses on Saturday at Lake Myrtle Park, where the Lions were defeated by John Carroll University in both games of a doubleheader in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.

Penn State Altoona (3-9) took a tough loss in game one, when John Carroll (9-3) came back to defeat the Lions on a walkoff. The Blue Streaks clinched the sweep with a lopsided 13-3 victory over Penn State Altoona in game two.

Game One: John Carroll 6, Penn State Altoona 5

Penn State Altoona rallied from a one-run deficit in the top of the seventh inning to take a 5-4 lead over JCU, but the Blue Streaks scored two in the bottom of the inning to serve the Lions a walkoff defeat.

Jake Hillard (State College, PA/State College) was 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and a stolen base, and Corey Chamberlain (Claysburg, PA/Claysburg-Kimmel) also hit 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Alex Hlivia (Pennsylvania Furnace, PA/State College) was 1-for-1 with a pair of walks and a run scored.

Tristin Lockett (Mifflin County, PA/Mifflin County) was the game one starting pitcher for Penn State Altoona and finished with a no decision. In 5 1/3 innings, the righty allowed four earned runs and struck out five JCU batters. Mack Meengs (State College, PA/State College) pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief and shouldered the loss.

JCU put the game's first runs on the board in the bottom of the second inning, when the Blue Streaks got three runs across with two outs. Jack Harmon's RBI double got JCU on the board, and Sean Connolly's two-run double later in the frame made it 3-0.

Penn State Altoona answered with a three-spot of its own in the top of the third. With one out, Hlivia singled through the right side, Grayson McClain (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union) had a base hit to left-center, and Richard Carey (Milton, DE/Cape Henlopen) reached on an infield error to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed Hlivia to score the Lions' first run of the day, and Chamberlain followed with an RBI single through the right side to cut the JCU lead to one. Hillard proceeded to tie the game 3-3 with his RBI single into left.

The tie score held up until the bottom of the sixth, when JCU jumped ahead on Harmon's RBI single.

But Penn State Altoona was able to respond quickly, taking its first lead of the game in the top half of the seventh by rallying for two runs with two outs. Hlivia started the frame with a walk, and Chamberlain's two-out double to left put both base runners in scoring position. A passed ball tied the game, allowing pinch runner Brendan Kuhns (Altoona, PA/Altoona) to come home from third. After that, Hillard delivered an RBI single through the right side of the infield that scored pinch runner Tyreke Green (Altoona, PA/Altoona) to put Penn State Altoona on top, 5-4.

But the Lions' lead was short-lived, as JCU had the last word by scoring two in the bottom of the seventh. A single, hit by pitch, and walk loaded the bases with no outs, and Justin Hanley drew a free pass to bring in the tying run. After a strikeout, Penn State Altoona was unable to turn what would have been an inning-ending double play, as Connor Mayle reached on a fielder's choice to drive in the game-winning run for the Blue Streaks.

Game Two: John Carroll 13, Penn State Altoona 3

The Blue Streaks jumped out to a strong early advantage, securing a 6-1 lead through three innings en route to a 10-run win. Penn State Altoona was limited to three runs on five hits.

Garrett Alauzen (Pittsburgh, PA/Chartiers Valley), Chamberlain, Hillard, McClain, and Jonathan Rauch (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) had hits for the Lions. Chamberlain registered Penn State Altoona's lone RBI, while Hillard, McClain, and Rauch scored one run each.

Bryant Allison (Alexandria, PA/Juniata Valley) started at pitcher and tossed four innings to take the loss. Sean Wing (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) pitched two innings in relief, while Cameron Dubbs (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) tossed one inning out of the pen.

JCU scored a run in the top of the first on a bases-loaded walk by Mayle, but Allison and the Lions were able to get out of the inning without allowing any further damage, forcing the Blue Streaks to leave the bases loaded.

Penn State Altoona knotted the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the first, when McClain led off with a double to right and later came home on Chamberlain's groundout to shortstop.

But JCU came back with two runs in the next half inning, making it 3-1 in the top of the second on RBI singles from Connolly and Jared Orwell. In the third, RBI singles from Logan Lamere and Michael Persichetti made it 5-1, and Lamere scored on an error to extend the Blue Streaks' lead to five runs.

The Lions trimmed their deficit to three in the bottom of the fourth. Hillard and Rauch started things off with back-to-back singles, and Hillard scored on a passed ball while Rauch came home on a double play grounder to cut the JCU advantage to 6-3.

The Blue Streaks got a run back in the top of the fifth, when Jordan Suvak scored on a passed ball to make it 7-3. Another passed ball in the sixth allowed Mayle to score, putting the JCU lead at 8-3.

JCU put things out of reach by tacking five more runs on to its total in the top of the seventh. In the inning, the Blue Streaks got a two-run single from Bryce Holt, a sac fly from Hanley, and a two-run home run from Mayle to increase their lead to 13-3.

Now, Penn State Altoona baseball will return to Pennsylvania and continue its schedule this upcoming week against some regional non-conference opponents. The Lions' next scheduled games are Wednesday, March 15 at 1 p.m., when the squad will hit the road to face Waynesburg University in a doubleheader.