PITTSBURGH – The Penn State Altoona baseball team picked up its first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference win of the season on Tuesday afternoon in a doubleheader split with league opponent La Roche University at the Baierl Athletic Complex.

The Lions (9-13, 1-3 AMCC) posted a big 13-6 victory in game one of the twinbill, before La Roche (8-12, 4-2 AMCC) quieted the Penn State Altoona offense in game two by prevailing 5-1.

Game One: Penn State Altoona 13, La Roche 6

The Lions' offense got back on track, producing 13 runs on 11 hits while capitalizing on eight La Roche errors, and the pitching staff limited the Redhawks to just two earned runs.

Timothy Richard (Douglassville, PA/Daniel Boone) went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored, Richard Carey (Milton, DE/Cape Henlopen) was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in, and Jake Hillard (State College, PA/State College) was 2-for-5 with three RBI and a stolen base.

Alex Hlivia (State College, PA/State College) finished with three runs scored and two RBI, and Corey Chamberlain (Claysburg, PA/Claysburg-Kimmel) totaled three RBI and two runs scored.

Alex Kitko (Houtzdale, PA/Moshannon Valley) got the start on the mound and recorded his second victory of the season. In five innings of work, the right-hander held La Roche to two runs on four hits and four walks while striking out three batters.

Sam Homan (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) tossed one inning in relief and allowed no earned runs while striking out a pair, and Cole Brechbill (Hagerstown, MD/North Hagerstown) pitched a scoreless seventh inning with one strikeout.

Trailing 2-0 in the top of the third, Penn State Altoona cut its deficit in half when Garrett Alauzen (Pittsburgh, PA/Chartiers Valley) tripled to center with two outs, driving in Hlivia to make it a one-run game.

The Lions scored two more runs in the fourth to work their way into the lead. Chamberlain scored on an infield error to tie the game, and Richard came home on Carey's fielder's choice grounder to give Penn State Altoona a 3-2 advantage. Hillard's RBI single to center expanded the Lions' lead to 4-2 in the fifth.

Penn State Altoona broke the game open in the top of the sixth, plating seven runs to increase its advantage to 11-2. Carey's RBI single to left started the scoring in the inning, and an infield error later allowed Carey and Phaly Moravek (Leesburg, VA/Tuscarora) to come home. Three batters later, another La Roche error cost the home team three runs, as Alauzen, Hlivia, and Grayson McClain (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union) all scored on the play to make it 10-2. James St. Laurent-Friend's (Wake Forest, NC/Wake Forest) RBI double to left set the Lions' lead at nine.

La Roche narrowed the score differential to five in the bottom half of the sixth. Josh Dreyer's RBI groundout to third preceded an RBI single to right from Zach Keib and two-run double to right by Kyle Weitzel, putting the score at 11-6.

But the Lions got two runs back in the seventh, when Hillard's two-out, two-run single to right made it 13-6.

Game Two: La Roche 5, Penn State Altoona 1

After their strong offensive output in game one, the Lions were held to just one run in game two. Penn State Altoona's total of stranded runners loomed large by the conclusion of the four-run game, as the Lions left 12 runners on base.

Hillard went 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored. Richard was 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Moravek also went 2-for-4.

The Lions' pitching was solid, allowing just one earned run in the game. Eli Wiles (Kittanning, PA/Armstrong) was Penn State Altoona's starter and was saddled with the loss, after pitching two innings, allowing one earned run, and striking out three batters. Adam Wildasin (Hershey, PA/Hershey) was strong out of the bullpen, tossing six innings and striking out five batters while allowing no earned runs.

La Roche drew first blood in the bottom of the first, when Nathan Stutz's RBI single to right gave the home team a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third, a throwing error allowed Mason Brooks to score to increase La Roche's advantage to 2-0. Later in the frame, a two-run single to right from Ben Dottle and an RBI single to shortstop from Tanner Kobal gave the Redhawks a 5-0 lead.

Penn State Altoona finally broke through for a run in the top of the eighth. After Hillard led off with a double, Richard's one-out double to center drove him in to make it 5-1. But the Lions were unable to cash in beyond that, and the four-run score stood up the rest of the way.

Penn State Altoona baseball will travel for its next games, as the Lions will head to Erie this Saturday, April 16 to take on AMCC opponent Penn State Behrend in a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m.