Beaver Baseball Splits First Day at PSUAC Playoffs

On Friday, May 1 the Penn State Beaver Nittany Lions baseball team traveled to Penn State University Park for the first round of the PSUAC playoffs where they lost one to Penn State Brandywine, 8-4, but defeated Penn State Abington, 8-7.

In game one, Beaver and Brandywine both played solid defense in the first inning and scored no runs. In the bottom of the second, Brandywine struck first with a run and, in the bottom of the third, added three more for a 4-0 lead. 

Beaver went on the board in the top of the fifth inning with one run, but Brandywine added four for an 8-1 lead going into the top of the sixth inning. Beaver scored one more run in the top of the sixth and two more in the top of the seventh, but lost the game.

Junior Greg Frederick (Quaker Valley High School, Sewickley, PA) led the way with three hits, one of which was a homerun shot, and junior Joe Scherer (Quaker Valley High School, Sewickley, PA) finished the game with two hits.

In the second game, Beaver took on Abington which had previously lost to Penn College, 7-6, in the first round. After holding Abington scoreless in the first, freshman Dan Sonsini (Aliquippa High School, Aliquippa, PA) led off with a triple. Sophomore Huston Lorenzo (South Miami High School, Miami, Fl) followed with a run scoring triple, and Frederick followed with a single to build an early 2-0 lead. Abington answered with four runs in the top of the second, but Beaver went to work in their half of the second. Three singles by Trojan, Lorenzo, and Scherer and a two-run double by junior Ryan Raraigh (Riverside High School, Fombell,PA) scored three runs and helped Beaver reclaim the lead, 5-4. 

Abington tied the game in the third with one run, and then took a two-run lead in the fifth, 7-5. In the sixth, Trojan, Lorenzo, and Scherer all singled again as Scherer pushed Trojan across the plate to pull within one run. Junior Cody Moldovan led off the seventh inning with a walk and senior Brian Ringel (Sto-Rox High Schools, McKees Rocks, PA) entered the game as a pinch runner for Moldovan. After stealing second base, Ringel scored and tied the game on a base hit by sophomore Jake Ellis (Seneca Valley High School) who then moved up to second on an error. Trojan doubled to drive in Ellis for the win. 

Lorenzo and Scherer both ended the game with three hits each. Frederick pitched a complete game striking out five for the win.

The victory takes Beaver to the semi-finals on Saturday, May 2 at University Park where they take on Penn State Brandywine at 1 p.m.