Lion Baseball Comes up Short over Beaver

Monaca, Pa.- The Penn State Greater Allegheny baseball team dropped a pair of Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) matches, Wednesday afternoon, by margins of 8-2 and 12-9.

Game one started out with a junior second baseman Adam Jacko (North Versailles, Pa./East Allegheny) single. Beaver dropped two runs on four hits in the bottom of the first to go up over GA quickly, 2-0.

The top of the second brought a junior outfielder Mark Hollis (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) and freshman first baseman Zach Craven(McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) single to get on base. Senior third baseman John Nusser(Pittsburgh, Pa./Brashear) noted a sacrifice fly to center field to score Hollis and split the Beaver lead, 2-1.

With three unearned runs in the third and three runs in the bottom of the fifth coming off extra hits, Greater Allegheny found themselves down a staggering 8-1.

The sixth inning brought a junior shortstop Brandon Koglin (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) single before freshman outfielder Dylan Finocchi(Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) was hit-by-pitch to get on base. Hollis singled to score Hollis to put another run on the board before time expired for the first set of seven innings, 8-2 Beaver.

Freshman left-handed pitcher Jordan Graziano(Pittsburgh, Pa./Carrick) pitched 5.2 innings, white he sat three of his 31 batters down on strike-outs. Hollis managed 2-of-3 with one RBI while five other Lion student-athletes connected through game one.

Game two started quickly as Koglin and Finocchi singled and sophomore designated hitter Luke Padezan(Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) walked to fill the bases. Both Hollis and Nusser were walked to first base to score the first two runs of the game.

Beaver was quick to answer to even the margin at two each before GA was back to bat. Jacko doubled before Koglin singled. Finocchi singled to bat home Jacko before Kogin advanced home on a passed ball. Padezan singled before Craven singled to score Finocchi, 5-2 GA.

Four Beaver runs in two innings resulted in Greater Allegheny trailing 6-5. Padezan singled in the fourth as Hollis doubled to put the two in scoring position. Nusser singled to bat home Hollis, 6-6.

Six more runs through the remainder of the game from the home team were tallied before the seventh inning brought a sophomore outfielder Sam Ligeros(Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) double, before scoring on a ground-out. Jacko walked and Koglin singled to lead to a Finocchi double, scoring both Jacko and Koglin, 12-9 Beaver.

Padezan pitched 4.2 innings as the righty sat down five of his 20 batters faced. Freshman right-handed pitcher Max Whteman (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) finished out the game with the final eight batters.

Koglin went 4-of-5 with three runs while Finocchi hit 3-of-5, noting two runs and two runs batted in. Padezan hit 2-of-4 as Nusser went 2-of-3 with two RBIs.

Greater Allegheny (6-20, 4-10 PSUAC) will continue their week on the road, as the men travel to Penn State DuBois on Friday night for a double-header set for 6:30 p.m.