Cresson, PA - The Mount Aloysius Baseball team won a thrilling rubber game of their 3 game set in the first round of the AMCC Tournament. Despite trailing by 9 runs in the 4th, the Mounties were able to come back twice and prevail over the #5 seeded Alfred State Pioneers on a run scoring passed ball in the 11th inning. The final score was 14-13. 

The Mounties fell behind right away as starting pitcher Aaron Shinn (Woodbridge, VA/CD Hylton) allowed 5 runs on 4 hits, an error and a walk in just 2/3 of an inning. He was replaced by Nick Lagnese (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) who quickly saw his catcher, Douglas Smith (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) throw out a base stealer to end the inning. The Mounties were able to scratch a run back in the 1st as Matthew McCourt (Mullica Hill, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) led off with a single, stole second and scored on a Jeremy Iellimo (Arnold, PA/Valley Area) single to right. Lagnese was able to keep the Pioneer offense quiet for two innings, but ran into trouble in the 4th. After striking out the lead off man, he allowed 4 straight singles, and was removed in favor of Dylan Coyle (Canonsburg, PA/Canon-McMillan). Coyle allowed a double which scored his two inherited runners and a run to score on an RBI groundout, ending the inning with the Mounties trailing 10-1.

The Mounties quickly struck to chip away at the lead. Iellimo led off with a single up the middle and moved to third two batters later on a double to right center from Daniel Singer (Saint Mary's PA/Elk County Catholic). Ryan Leonard (James Creek, PA/Tussey Mountain) came through with the big hit in the inning as he also singled up the middle to score both runners. After Coyle set down Alfred State in order in the 5th, the Mounties scored two more in their half of the inning. Smith beat out an infield single to first base and then rounded the bases as Sam Keibler (Kittaning, PA/Kittaning) hit a long line drive to right for his 8th home run of the season. Coyle was able to come back out and put up another zero to maintain the momentum and saw his efforts rewarded in the bottom of the 6th.

Singer drew a lead off walk to start the inning and then went first to third on another Leonard single. Patrick Mahon (Pittsburgh, PA/Allegheny CC) drove a single through the right side of the infield to score Singer for the first run of the inning. Joe Hudak (Central City, PA/Shanksville-Stonycreek) then dropped down a perfect drag bunt for an infield single to load the bases for McCourt. McCourt lined a single into left to score Leonard and then Smith drove in another with a sacrifice fly to deep right. With one down and runners on the corners, McCourt stole second and then scored as Keibler bounced a single on the turf over the first baseman's head into right field to score two runs and tie the game at 10. 

Coyle came out again and put up another zero with the help of another runner caught stealing. The Mounties continued to use the momentum in the 7th as they used three hits in the inning to take a lead. Singer led off with a single up the middle and quickly stole second. With one down Mahon hit a line drive into right that found its way into the gap for a run scoring triple. After an unsuccessful safety squeeze attempt, McCourt came through again, singling to center to bring Mahon home. The lead did not last long as the Pioneers were able to counter in the 8th. Coyle walked the first batter and was removed after falling behind to the second batter in favor of Douglas Cannon (Valencia, PA/Mars Area) Cannon got the first two he faced to fly out, but then ran into trouble. Josh Laurie singled to center and cleanup hitter hit a line drive triple to the right center gap to tie the game at 12. A batter later, the Pioneers took the lead on a bloop single over first base. 

Down again with only 6 outs to go, the Mounties would not fold. Keibler singled to right to start the inning and then moved to second on an Iellimo single through the left side. After a force out at third on a bunt play, the senior center fielder Singer drove a single of his own through the left side to bring in Iellimo and tie the game at 13. Tied in the 9th, Cannon was able to get the lead off man to ground out but then saw a runner reach on a throwing error and hit a batter. He was removed for Michael McCourt (Mullica Hill, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) who was able to get two outs at the top of the line up to get out of the jam and back into the dugout. The Mounties had a close call to walk off in the 9th but saw an excellent relay throw cut off the potential winning run at the plate. With two down, Smith hit a high fly down the right field line. The Alfred State right fielder dove for the ball but was unable to make the catch. Smith raced around the bases looking to end the game, but was unable to slide around a tag after an excellent play on the relay from Josh Laurie. 

Both teams stranded a runner in their half of the 10th, and McCourt stranded another in the 11th after a one out single. In the bottom of the 11th, Leonard drew a lead off walk and was removed for a pinch runner, Trevor Miller (Pittsburgh, PA/Penn Hills) Miller moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Mahon and then to third when pinch hitter Andrew Pasko (Johnstown, PA/Richland) hit a chopper back up the middle. With two down and Matt McCourt at bat, Pioneer pitcher Jarred Deaton threw a 0-1 change up that was unable to be handled by the catcher and snuck back to the backstop, allowing Miller to scamper home and win the game.

McCourt earned the win for his 2 and 2/3 innings of releif work, just 2 days after throwing a complete 7 inning game. He allowed 2 hits and struck out 2 batters, moving his record to 7-2 on the season. The Mounties pounded out 20 hits in the game and saw 7 players record multi-hit games. Matt McCourt, Keibler, Iellimo, Singer and Mahon all picked up three hits a piece, while Smith and Leonard added two each. Keibler was the main run producer as he brought home 4 runs. 

The win moved their record to 27-14, and gave them a 2-1 win in the series with Alfred State, moving them onto the next round of the AMCC Tournament. This round is a double elimination style tournament, scheduled to begin on Thursday. The Mounties will face the hosts, La Roche University in their first game of the next round. Earlier this year, they were able to pick up their first sweep of La Roche in program history at home, giving the Redhawks their only two losses in AMCC play this season. If the Mounties are able to repeat their performance from earlier this year, they will face the winner of #2 Penn State Behrend and #3 Penn State Altoona.