#3 Alfred State College and #4 La Roche University each swept Sunday's double headers in the First Round of the AMCC Baseball Championship Tournament to advance to the Championship Round May 12-14 at Penn State Behrend.
Game 1: #3 Alfred State d. #6 Penn State Altoona, 6-4
Alfred State jumped out quick in game one, taking a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Matteo Avallone hit his 10th home run of the season to left field, plating Nick Serce and Jack Curabba, while picking up three RBIs. Penn State Altoona then took the lead after scoring two runs in the fourth inning then two more in the fifth. Corey Chamberlain doubled in the fourth to bring in Jake Hillard before Logan Margroum singled to bring in Chamberlain. Two more runs crossed the plate for the Lions in the fifth when Alex Hlivia scored on a Richard Carey SAC fly, then a Chamberlain walk with bases loaded plated Tyreke Green to give Altoona the 4-3 advantage. The Pioneers answered back during the bottom of the fifth inning starting off with a walk from Avallone that brought home Elijah Barinas. Then Devin Mersmann reached first on an error from the Lions shortstop to bring home Curabba, putting the Pioneers up 5-4. Alfred State scored their final fun in the bottom of the sixth when Owen Lansing scored on a wild pitch. AJ Gartland pitched four innings and allowed four hits, four runs, walked three and struck out one. Nick Serce pitched two innings and allowed one hit, walked one and struck out four while giving up zero runs.
Game 2: #3 Alfred State d. #6 Penn State Altoona, 16-1
Alfred State won in convincing fashion in Game 2. After a scoreless first inning, the Pioneers put up four runs in the bottom of the second. Owen Lansing singled, bringing home Devin Mersmann, and Elijah Barinas singled to bring home Lansing. Gavin Moore singled to plate Barinas and then Moore scored on an Altoona error. In the third inning Barinas singled to left field plating Mersmann. The Lions scored a run in the top of the fourth when Logan Margroum hit a SAC fly to bring home Garrett Alauzen, making the score 5-1. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Nick Serce hit a home run to put another run on the board for the Pioneers. During the seventh inning, the Pioneers scored six runs. Moore singled plating Lansing then Barinas stole home plate. Curabba singled plating Moore, Serce hit a homer plating Curabba and Burdett singled bringing home Avallone. To wrap it up, during the eighth inning, Sellers doubled to center field bringing home Barinas, Sam Dickerson and Dom Francavilla. Serce doubled down the right field line plating Sellers. Jack Josephson pitched seven innings and allowed seven hits, one run, walked two and struck out five. Spencer Riehler pitched one inning and allowed 0 hits, 0 runs, walked 0 and struck out 0. Tyler Staffieri pitched one inning and allowed one hit, 0 runs, walked 0 and struck out one.
The Pioneers will play #2 Mount Aloysius College on Thursday at 4:00pm at Penn State Behrend.
Game 1: #4 La Roche d. #5 Hilbert, 7-3
After La Roche took a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning, Hilbert came back to score two runs in the third. The Redhawks then snagged a late lead in the fifth inning and went on to defeat Hilbert 7-3 on Sunday. Kyle Weitzel got things started for the Redhawks in the first inning when he hit a solo homer to left field. Hilbert answered in the top of the third when Thomas Evans hit a two-run homer, putting the Hawks up 2-1. In the bottom of the fourth inning, La Roche tied things up at two when Jake Bredl singled on the first pitch of the at bat, scoring one run. La Roche broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs to go up 6-2. Ben Dottle crossed the plate first on a Hilbert error before Kyle Weitzel scored on a SAC fly by Mason Brooks. Anthony Cioffi then blasted a two-run homer to cap the inning. Hilbert added another run in the top of the sixth on a Patrick Whelan home run. The Redhawks finished the game with one more run in the bottom of the sixth when Justin Stancovic scored on a Hilbert error, setting the final score of 7-3. Jackson Rogers earned the win for La Roche University . The righthander went seven innings, allowing three runs on four hits, striking out seven and walking zero
Game 2: #4 La Roche d. #5 Hilbert, 10-1
La Roche also defeated Hilbert in Game 2 on the day, sweeping the Hawks to advance in the AMCC Baseball Championship Tournament. La Roche opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning when Jake Bredl doubled to right field, scoring Mason Brooks. Tyler Simpson then singled to center field, bringing Bredl home to take the 2-0 lead. Hilbert answered in the top of the third when Santino Turello recorded an RBI on a single to center field, bringing the Hawks within one. La Roche added another run on in the bottom of the third on an Anthony Cioffi SAC fly, plating Nathan Stutz, giving the Redhawks the 3-1 advantage. La Roche broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four more runs to take the 7-1 lead. Ryan Lynn started the rally with a single before Brooks singled to center field, alloing Lynn to score. After Cioffi walked, Stancovic smacked a three-run home run. The Redhawks added two more runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh for the convincing 10-1 victory. Zack Oddi led La Roche University to victory on the mound. The righthander allowed four hits and one run over six innings, striking out one and walking one. Shane Murphy threw three innings in relief out of the bullpen
The Redhawks will now play #1 Penn State Behrend on Thursday at 1:00pm at Behrend.