Behrend Pitching Shuts Down Pitt-Bradford in AMCC Opener, Bowen Reaches 100-Hit Milestone

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team opened Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) play with two wins over Pitt-Bradford on Monday. The doubleheader originally scheduled for last Saturday occurred on the campus of Mercyhurst University today, being the conference opener for both teams.

Final Scores:
Game 1: Penn State Behrend 4, Pitt-Bradford 2
Game 2: Penn State Behrend 2, Pitt-Bradford 1

Records: Penn State Behrend 8-7 (2-0 AMCC), Pitt-Bradford 7-13 (0-2)

Game One Key Moments:

* Jake Deitz (Erie, PA/McDowell) led off the bottom of the third with a line-drive single to right field
* Zack Bowen (Pittsburgh, PA/Serra Catholic) poked a base hit through the left side on the following pitch, setting the table for the heart of the order
* The single by Bowen gave him is 100^th career hit
* Isaac Stouffer (Punxsutawney, PA/Punxsutawney) ripped an RBI double to right-center field to break the scoreless tie, scoring Deitz
* Back-to-back groundouts by Juston Jones (Moon Township, PA/Moon) and Mac Ciocco (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) scored two with Behrend concluding the third frame with a three-run lead
* With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Dylan Hetrick (Mercer, PA/Mercer) launched an off-speed pitch deep over the two-story fence in left field for his first homerun of the season, pushing the Behrend advantage to 4-0
* Starter Thomas Zbezinski (Gibsonia, PA/Pine-Richland) held the Panthers hitless into the fifth inning, where Pitt-Bradford loaded the bases loaded with nobody out.
* Bowen helped the Lions escape unscathed following a sliding snag in foul territory and doubling down by throwing a runner out at the plate tagging from third
* A two-run homerun in the seventh erased the shutout for Zbezinski but shut the door on any future scoring chances, earning his second win of the season

Game Two Key Moments:

* Consecutive singles by Anthony Slate (Hopewell, PA/Hopewell) and Colin Harger (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) set runners on first and second in the fourth inning with two outs
* Hetrick hit a towering pop fly to the right side that resulted in an error but both Slate and Harger scored on the miscue, giving Behrend their only runs of game two
* The scoreless streak for the Panthers would be snapped with a solo homerun in the seventh inning making it a one-run tilt
* Jacob Lindow (Bridgeville, PA/Chartiers Valley) went the distance, taking his start into the ninth but would be relieved in favor of Jones following a leadoff single
* Jones immediately induced a groundball that went around the horn, turning two and would force another groundball to slam the door on the series sweep to earn his second save of the season

Noteworthy:

* Zbezinski had the complete-game win in the front end of the double dip, striking out six and allowing just three hits
* Lindow registered 8.0 innings pitched, fanning five and giving up three hits
* Deitz and Stouffer each had two hits in the game-one win
* Chase Palmer (Brookeville, PA/Brookeville) logged a pair of base hits in the second bout, scoring once

Up Next:

* The Lions are scheduled to travel to Cresson Pa. for a conference doubleheader with Mt. Aloysius on Wednesday
* First pitch for game one is set for 1 p.m.