CRESSON, Pa. – Sixth-seeded Penn State Altoona baseball began its postseason quest on Saturday afternoon, starting an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament first round, best-of-three series against third seed Mount Aloysius College at Calandra-Smith Field.

Mount Aloysius (17-19) earned a 10-6 win in game one, but Penn State Altoona (16-25) held on for a 12-11 victory in game two to stave off elimination and force a third matchup between the teams. The decisive game three will be tomorrow, Sunday, May 7 at Mount Aloysius, with a start time of 11 a.m. The winner of that game advances to the AMCC championship rounds.

Game One: Mount Aloysius 10, Penn State Altoona 6

The Lions dug themselves a hole, allowing Mount Aloysius to run up a 9-2 lead through seven innings en route to a four-run victory for the home team. The Mounties' win was keyed by a five-run seventh inning.

Jonathan Rauch (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) was 3-for-4 at the plate for Penn State Altoona with a run scored and a walk. Grayson McClain (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union) went 2-for-4 with three RBI, and Corey Chamberlain (Claysburg, PA/Claysburg-Kimmel) was 2-for-5 with a run scored.

Eli Wiles (Kittanning, PA/Armstrong) got the nod as the game-one starting pitcher and took the loss, tossing 6 1/3 innings and yielding five runs. Mack Meengs (State College, PA/State College) pitched 2/3 inning in relief, and Sean Wing (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) threw one inning.

Mount Aloysius broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth, when Joshua Brown's RBI single to center put the Mounties on the board. Penn State Altoona responded with a run in the top of the fifth, tying the score on a sacrifice fly to center from Jake Hillard (State College, PA/State College).

The Mounties reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth, scoring runs on a Tyler Suder sac fly and a Gavin Constein RBI single to center to make it 3-1. Troy Emert's RBI single to left-center field in the sixth put Mount Aloysius up by three, 4-1.

Penn State Altoona made it a two-run game in the top of the seventh, as McClain's fielder's choice grounder allowed James St. Laurent-Friend (Wake Forest, NC/Wake Forest) to score from third, pulling the Lions to within 4-2.

But Mount Aloysius padded its lead with a five-run bottom of the seventh. With two outs and the bases loaded, Zack Peck was hit by a pitch to score a run for the Mounties. The next batter, Ryan Lynn, hit a grand slam to left to give Mount Aloysius a 9-2 advantage.

Penn State Altoona answered in the top of the eighth, scoring four runs to make it a three-run game. With one out, back-to-back singles by Rauch and Chamberlain set the table for the Lions, and Garrett Alauzen (Pittsburgh, PA/Chartiers Valley) came through with an RBI base hit to left in the next at-bat. Two batters later, with two outs and the bases loaded, Alex Hlivia (Pennsylvania Furnace, PA/State College) drew a bases-loaded walk to score Chamberlain. McClain followed that with a two-run single to right center, cutting the Mount Aloysius lead to 9-6.

Mount Aloysius got a run back in the bottom of the eighth, when Brandon Shane's two-out RBI single made it 10-6. Penn State Altoona got two runners aboard in the top of the ninth, but the Lions were unable to pull together a rally, as Mount Aloysius took game one.

Game Two: Penn State Altoona 12, Mount Aloysius 11

Penn State Altoona used a big performance at the plate to get past Mount Aloysius in game two, avoiding elimination and forcing a third game of the series tomorrow. The Lions totaled 22 hits as a team, tying for the seventh-most hits in a game in program history.

Penn State Altoona led 9-0 through four-and-a-half innings, then held on to eke out a one-run victory.

Six different Lion batters finished with a multi-hit game, including three players who finished with four hits apiece.

Hillard and Chamberlain both went 4-for-6 with an RBI and a run scored, while Alauzen was 4-for-6 with a triple, a double, three RBI, and three runs scored.

Meanwhile, Tyreke Green (Altoona, PA/Altoona) was 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored. Timothy Richard (Douglassville, PA/Daniel Boone) finished 2-for-3 with two RBI, a run scored, and a walk, and Rauch went 2-for-6 with two runs scored and an RBI.

On the mound, Sam Homan (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) got the start and recorded his sixth win of the season. In 6 1/3 innings pitched, the left-hander allowed five runs while striking out five batters. Cameron Dubbs (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) and Alex Kitko (Houtzdale, PA/Moshannon Valley) each pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief, with Kitko registering his fourth save of the spring.

Penn State Altoona opened the scoring by picking up one run in the second, third, and fourth innings. In the second, Alauzen led off with a single and later scored on Richard's RBI base hit through the left side. The Lions scored on three straight hits from Rauch, Chamberlain, and Alauzen in the third, with Alauzen's RBI single making it 2-0. In the fourth inning, Hlivia started things off with an infield single, moved up to second on a wild pitch, took third on a balk, and scored on McClain's RBI groundout to second base.

The Lions proceeded to put together a six-run inning in the top of the fifth. Chamberlain led off with a single, and Alauzen's RBI triple to right center made it 4-0. Two batters later, Hlivia's sac fly to center allowed Alauzen to score, giving Penn State Altoona a five-run lead. After a McClain single, back-to-back base hits from Hillard and Green resulted in two more runs crossing home for the Lions. Hillard scored on a passed ball, and Rauch's RBI single down the left field line made it 9-0.

Mount Aloysius got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, using Lynn's RBI single and Troy Emert's sac fly to trim the Lions' lead to seven, 9-2.

The Mounties continued chipping away at their deficit in the sixth and seventh innings. Aidan Bell's RBI double in the sixth made it a six-run game, and a Tyler Quade two-run double and Bell two-run single in the seventh got Mount Aloysius to within two, 9-7.

Penn State Altoona got a run back in the top of the eighth, as Chamberlain led off with a single to left and later scored on Richard's sac fly.

Mount Aloysius made it a two-run game again in the bottom half of the eighth, when Ryan Bushey's two-out RBI double made it 10-8.

Penn State Altoona picked up two important insurance runs with two outs in the top of the ninth. With two away and two aboard, Chamberlain's RBI single up the middle and Alauzen's run-scoring double down the right field line set the Lions' lead at 12-8.

Mount Aloysius made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth, scoring three runs and putting the go-ahead run on base. One run scored on Cole Harkness' fielder's choice, which made it two outs in the inning. Suder came next with an RBI single to third, and Bushey followed with an RBI single to right center that cut Penn State Altoona's lead to just one run, 12-11. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, the Lions got the final out on a pop up to clinch the game-two victory.