BOLIVAR, N.Y. – The Penn State Altoona baseball team lost both ends of a doubleheader to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Alfred State College on Sunday afternoon at Bolivar-Richburg High School.

Alfred State (12-8, 2-0 AMCC) overcame an early deficit to win game one by a close 5-4 decision, and the Pioneers completed the sweep with an 11-2 victory over Penn State Altoona (8-15, 1-3 AMCC) in game two.

Game One: Alfred State 5, Penn State Altoona 4

Penn State Altoona established an early 4-0 advantage, but Alfred State used a three-run third inning and a two-run fourth to leap ahead. The Pioneers clung to their one-run lead, riding it to a victory in game one.

Jake Hillard (State College, PA/State College) went 2-for-2 with his first home run of the season, two runs scored, two runs batted in, and a walk. Garrett Alauzen (Pittsburgh, PA/Chartiers Valley) was 1-for-3 with a run scored, and Richard Carey (Milton, DE/Cape Henlopen) was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Eli Wiles (Kittanning, PA/Armstrong) started on the mound for the Lions and went the distance. In six innings, the right-hander yielded five runs and struck out a pair.

Penn State Altoona took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second. Hillard led off with a base hit to center for his team's first hit of the day, and Alauzen's one-out single to left center put two runners aboard. Carey followed with a single to center to drive in Hillard, and Alex Hlivia's (Pennsylvania Furnace, PA/State College) groundout allowed Alauzen to come home for the Lions' second run.

Hillard doubled Penn State Altoona's lead with one swing of the bat in the third. Jonathan Rauch (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) was hit by a pitch with one out, and after a groundout, Hillard hit a two-run homer to give the Lions a 4-0 advantage.

Alfred State used the long ball to cut its deficit to one in the bottom of the third, when Tim Holler's three-run home run trimmed the Lions' lead to 4-3. The Pioneers jumped ahead in the fourth, getting an RBI double from Bryson Rigsby to tie the game and an RBI single from Holler to go up 5-4.

Penn State Altoona put the potential go-ahead run on base in the fifth and seventh innings, but the Lions came up emptyhanded both times. In the fifth, walks by Zach Ingold (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin), Corey Chamberlain (Claysburg, PA/Claysburg-Kimmel), and Hillard loaded the bases, but Alfred State held the Lions scoreless in the frame. Penn State Altoona again threatened in the seventh, when Timothy Richard (Douglassville, PA/Daniel Boone) hit a pinch-hit double and Rauch was hit by another pitch, but the Pioneers turned a game-ending double play.

Game Two: Alfred State 11, Penn State Altoona 2

Alfred State jumped out to an 8-1 lead after two innings, en route to a nine-run victory over the Lions in the nightcap.

Hillard had another two-hit game for the Lions, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and a walk. Hlivia was also 2-for-3 with a run scored, and Chamberlain and Brian Chelli (West Hartford, CT/Hall) had one hit apiece.

Sam Homan (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) started at pitcher and lasted 4 2/3 innings while yielding seven earned runs and striking out three batters. Tristin Lockett (Mifflin County, PA/Mifflin County) had a strong showing out of the bullpen, going 3 1/3 innings and limiting Alfred State to one run while recording three strikeouts.

Penn State Altoona scored in the top of the first inning. Richard led off with a walk, moved up to second on Rauch's sacrifice bunt, and reached third on an infield error. Hillard's single to center plated Richard, giving the Lions the first run of the contest.

But Alfred State took advantage of a pair of costly Lion errors in the bottom of the first inning, when the Pioneers got six runs across. Holler started the inning with a double and scored on an error in the next at-bat, tying the score at 1-1. Jack Curabba's two-run single to center put the home team in front, and two more runs scored on an infield error to make it 5-1. Devin Mersmann's RBI single to right put the Alfred State lead at 6-1.

Alfred State tacked two more runs on to its total in the second, when Sam Dickerson's two-run homer extended the Pioneers' lead to 8-1. Alfred State made it 10-1 in the fifth, when Mersmann's RBI single brought in one run, and an infield error allowed a second run to score.

Penn State Altoona picked up a run in the top of the sixth. Hlivia led off with a base hit to right center, and Chamberlain's two-out double down the left field line put two runners on for the Lions. Hillard's RBI single to third base got Hlivia home, making it 10-2.

The Pioneers boosted their lead back to nine in the bottom of the seventh on a solo home run by Owen Lansing.

Penn State Altoona returns to non-conference play for its next games, as the Lions will head back to Ivyside to host regional opponent Juniata College for a doubleheader this Wednesday, April 5 at 1 p.m.