Beaver Falls in Two Extra Inning Games to Open 2016 Season
Lions lose to Rochester 7-6 and 5-3.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rochester College
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
|
Penn State Beaver
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Game 1
Game 1
| Final (11) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Penn State Beaver
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 4 |
|
Rochester College
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 16 | 1 |
Vero Beach, FL – Beaver opens 2016 with two extra inning thrillers.
To open the 2016 season, Beaver faced USCAA rival Rochester College. In game one of action, Rochester jumped out to an early one run lead, but the solid defense of Beaver kept them in check until they were able to tie the game in the 5th on a Duncan Miklos (Beaver Falls, PA / Blackhawk) triple, scoring Stephen Antolic (Freedom, PA / Freedom). Rochester again pulled away, scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 4-1 lead. Led by Blaise McCarty (Beaver Falls, PA / Riverside), who opened the top of the 6th with a single, the Lion bats came alive as Nick Casasanta (Moon Twp, PA / Moon) and Miklos tripled in the inning to put five runs on the board, giving Beaver a 6-4 lead. But just as they had done before, Rochester tied the game in the bottom of the 7th inning to send the contest into extra innings. Both teams played tirelessly through an additional four innings before Rochester eventually secured the win scoring a lone run in the bottom of the 11th inning, winning 7-6.
Leading the way for the Lions were Miklos and Casasanta who both tripled, along with Jake Debo () who threw 6 innings to start the game.
In game two of the double header, the teams again matched up evenly. Rochester hit consistently through the first three innings, putting up one run in each to take a 3-0 lead after three. Beaver's defense was able to hold the Rochester bats at bay until they were able to produce some runs of their own in the bottom of the 7th inning to keep the game alive. After a Jordan Price (Conway, PA / Freedom) leadoff single, the bats got hot again as they did in the first game and this time it was Antolic with the triple to drive in two runs followed by Miklos again who was able to earn the last RBI to tie the game at three to send this game into extras as well. In the top of the eighth inning the Lions were able to work out of a tough situation, forcing Rochester to leave men on base, but they couldn't do the same in the ninth as the Warriors were able to produce two runs. With the game on the line, Beaver wasn't able to rally in the bottom of the ninth inning to steal the win, falling by a final score of 5-3.
Leading the bats in this game were Price and Antolic who both went 2 for 4, Antolic with 2 RBI's. Throwing an outstanding game from the mound was Casasanta who went 8 innings throwing over 60 strikes in his 93 pitches.
Beaver returns to action tomorrow afternoon for another double header, this time against Trinity International University slated to start at 4:00 p.m.
