Baseball Splits Season-Opening Twinbill at Hood
FREDERICK, Md. – The Penn State Altoona baseball team opened its 2022 schedule on the road Sunday afternoon, facing non-conference opponent Hood College in a doubleheader at Frederick Community College.
The Lions (1-1) started their season with a 9-4 victory in game one, but Hood (1-3) responded by winning game two 5-0.
Game One: Penn State Altoona 9, Hood 4
The Lions jumped out to a 6-1 lead, en route to a solid 9-4 victory in their first game of the season. Penn State Altoona collected 14 hits as a team while limiting Hood to five hits and two earned runs.
Jake Hillard (State College, PA/State College) led the Penn State Altoona bats with a 3-for-4 performance with a double, two runs batted in, and a run scored.
Richard Carey (Milton, DE/Cape Henlopen), Corey Chamberlain (Claysburg, PA/Claysburg-Kimmel), Logan Margroum (Hollidaysburg, PA/Hollidaysburg), and Phaly Moravek (Leesburg, VA/Tuscarora) also finished with multi-hit games for the Lions. Carey was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored, Chamberlain went 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored, Margroum hit 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI, and Moravek was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Grayson McClain (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union) finished with three runs scored.
Tristin Lockett (Mifflin County, PA/Mifflin County) made his Penn State Altoona debut on the mound, going three innings and allowing one unearned run on two walks and a hit while striking out six batters in a no decision. Kyle Glass (Imler, PA/Claysburg-Kimmel) tossed the final four innings out of the bullpen to record the win, yielding a pair of earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out three.
Penn State Altoona put two runs on the board in the top of the first inning. Hillard's RBI single plated the team's first run, and Grant Barberich (Leesburg, VA/Heritage) scored Chamberlain from third on a fielder's choice to make it 2-0.
Hood got a run back in the bottom of the first on Joe Monteleone's RBI base hit, but Penn State Altoona continued to add to its lead over the next several innings. In the third, Margroum's two-run double to left increased the Lions' advantage to 4-1, and in the fourth, McClain's RBI fielder's choice and Chamberlain's run-scoring single upped Penn State Altoona's lead to 6-1.
The Blazers picked up a run in the fourth and fifth innings to trim Penn State Altoona's lead to 6-3. But an RBI double from Hillard in the sixth and a two-run double by Moravek in the seventh added some padding to the Lions' advantage, boosting it to 9-3.
Hood picked up the game's final run with an RBI double from Monteleone in the bottom half of the seventh.
Game Two: Hood 5, Penn State Altoona 0
Penn State Altoona's offense was stifled in the second game, producing just three hits.
McClain had two of the Lions' three hits, going 2-for-3 at the plate. Barberich was 1-for-2 with a walk.
Eli Wiles (Kittanning, PA/Armstrong) made his collegiate debut on the mound, getting the start for Penn State Altoona and taking the loss after surrendering four earned runs over three innings. Alex Kitko (Houtzdale, PA/Moshannon Valley) tossed two scoreless innings in relief with one hit, one walk, and two strikeouts. Mack Meengs (State College, PA/State College) pitched a perfect sixth inning in his first collegiate appearance, recording two strikeouts.
Hood scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to grab the early lead in game two. A throwing error led to one run coming home, and another run scored on a passed ball. Jacob Saylor scored on a groundout later in the frame to make it 3-0.
In the second, Trey Baker's sacrifice fly brought in another run for the Blazers to make it 4-0. The home team closed the scoring in the third, when an RBI double by Tyler Schwarzman increased Hood's lead to 5-0.
Now, the Penn State Altoona baseball team will prepare for its Florida trip, as the Lions will return to the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational to compete against Division III teams from across the country from March 5-12. That week's slate of 10 games opens on Saturday, March 5 in Auburndale, Fla., where the Lions will take on the Rochester Institute of Technology in a doubleheader starting at 10:00 a.m.
