Ionadi Delivers Walk-Off Single vs. #6 La Roche in AMCC Tournament

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A Silvio Ionadi (Pittsburgh, PA/Plum) walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth carried the Penn State Behrend baseball team to a 5-4 victory over No. 6 La Roche in its opening games of the championship round of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Baseball Tournament.

Score: Penn State Behrend 5, La Roche 4
Records: Penn State Behrend (26-11-1), La Roche (14-23)

Key Moments:

* The Lions trailed 4-3 headed into the bottom of the ninth against the Redhawks
* Spencer Deitz (Erie, PA/McDowell) started the inning with a single to left and was driven in on a one-out RBI double from Dylan Barnes (Pittsburgh, PA/Plum)
* Curtis King (Erie, PA/McDowell), who pinch ran for Barnes, moved to third on a wild pitch which led to the game-winning knock up the middle off the bat of Ionadi
* Behrend got on the board first, thanks to an RBI triple from David Gibson (North East, PA/North East) in the bottom of the first
* La Roche took a three-run advantage (4-1) with four runs on four hits in the top of the second, highlighted by a three-run home run by Christian Melendez
* In the bottom of the fifth, Ionadi cut the Redhawks lead to two (4-2) with an RBI single
* Junior Mac Ciocco (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) returned to the Behrend lineup and delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh
* Joe Lang (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) picked up the win out of the bullpen, tossing 1.2 shutout innings and allowing only one hit
* Deitz finished with a game-high three hits, while Ionadi tallied two runs batted in
* For the Redhawks, Danny Suarez and Dimitri Gary each registered two hits apiece

Up Next:

* Behrend will matchup with No. 4 seed Alfred State at 10 a.m. in Cresson, PA. The winner of this game will advance to the championship game on Sunday, while the loser will take on No. 6 La Roche in an elimination game at 2 p.m.