Beaver, Wilkes-Barre End September with Split

In game one of an afternoon doubleheader on Sunday, Sept. 30, the Penn State Beaver Nittany Lions took the lead first, scoring 4 times in the top of the second inning. Penn State Wilkes-Barre answered in the bottom of the inning by scoring 3 times to pull within 1 run. Beaver added a run in the third and fourth before Wilkes-Barre added their fourth run in the bottom of the fourth. In the final inning, with the Lions up 6-4, Wilkes-Barre took advantage of a costly error to score three times and win the game.  

Senior Pat Ringel (Sto-Rox High School) took the loss, pitching a complete game, giving up 13 hits, 7 walks, and striking out 6. Ringel gave up only four earned runs as Beaver had two errors that both led to runs. Offensively, Beaver was led by senior Ian Thomson (Hopewell High School) and sophomore Ryan Raraigh (Riverside High School) with two hits each. Senior Jeff Trojan (Rochester High School) added a triple in the loss as well.

In game two, Beaver came on with a vengeance, scoring 1 in the first and 3 in the third to take a 4-1 lead after 3 innings. Beaver added two more before Wilkes-Barre scored three times in the bottom of the last inning. Sophomore Greg Frederick (Quaker Valley High School) entered the game to shut the door on the rally and earn his first save of the season. Freshman Nate Stonfer earned the win, pitching 6 plus innings, giving up 5 hits, walking 3, and striking out 8 before yielding to Frederick.

Offensively, it was Raraigh and Thomson leading the way with multiple hits. Both men hit .500 for the weekend, going 7-14 and 8-16, respectively.  

The Lions retun to action on Thursday, Oct. 4 for a 4 p.m. doubleheader with Robert Morris University at Beaver Falls High School where the second game will be played under lights. The first 50 students to arrive will receive a free Penn State Beaver baseball t-shirt, compliments of the Student Activity Fee Committee. Beaver returns to conference play on Saturday, Oct. 6 when the team travels to Williamsport to take on Penn College.