Baseball Blanks Amcats for First Florida Win
DAVENPORT, Fla. – The Penn State Altoona baseball team got its first win of its week in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational on Monday night, shutting out Anna Maria College 4-0 at Northeast Regional Park.
The Lions (2-3) got their most balanced performance of the young season, coming up with timely hits, playing error-free defense, and getting strong pitching that limited Anna Maria (0-3) to just three hits and held the Amcats scoreless.
Eric Seick (Mount Laurel, NJ/Camden Catholic) got the start at pitcher for Penn State Altoona, tossing two innings and allowing three hits, no walks, and no runs while striking out four batters. Caiden Bonsell (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) followed with three scoreless innings in relief, yielding just three walks and striking out one to record his first collegiate win on the mound.
Tristin Lockett (Lewistown, PA/Mifflin County) pitched three scoreless innings after that, allowing three walks while totaling three strikeouts. Sean Wing (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) followed Lockett, and Corey Chamberlain (Claysburg, PA/Claysburg-Kimmel) struck out the side in the ninth to notch his first collegiate save.
At the plate, Chamberlain was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a run batted in, and a run scored. Jimmy Mento (Corapeake, NC/Gates County) also hit 2-for-4 and had an RBI.
Jake Hillard (State College, PA/State College) hit his first home run of the season, and Dominic McCaffrey (Spotswood, NJ/St. John Vianney), Grayson McClain (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union), and Jonathan Rauch (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) also had one hit apiece for the Lions.
Penn State Altoona scored the game's first run in the bottom of the first, when Hillard hammered the first pitch he saw over the left field fence to give the Lions a 1-0 advantage.
The Lions added another run to their lead in the fourth. Chamberlain led off with a double to deep left center, and Mento's two-out base hit to left later in the frame gave Penn State Altoona a two-run advantage.
The Lions tacked on another run in the fifth after stringing together back-to-back hits with two outs. Rauch reached on an infield single to the pitcher, and Chamberlain drove him in when he lined a double down the left field line to make it 3-0.
Penn State Altoona made it 4-0 in the seventh, when McClain was hit by a pitch to start the inning and later scored from third on a wild pitch.
Penn State Altoona baseball returns to Northeast Regional Park for its next game, tomorrow, Tuesday, March 5. The Lions will face Calvin University in a single, nine-inning game at field #2, with first pitch set for 1 p.m.
