Behrend Baseball Beats Wooster 10-8 in NCAA Mideast Regional

Nearly 30 minutes after the last pitch, Jon Gray (State College/State College) was still sporting a huge grin.

Gray, one of the best players to ever take the field for Penn State-Behrend, had a career game in leading the Lions to their first NCAA Division III baseball regional victory —a 10-8 win over No. 3 Wooster on Wednesday (May 19, 2010) at Don Schaly Stadium. Next up for PSU is Thomas More at 1 p.m. Thursday.

"The past two years we came in as the 4 and 5 seeds and felt uptight," Gray said. "This year coming in playing Wooster and the seven seed we just wanted to let it all hang out."

Gray was possibly the coolest customer on the diamond. The Behrend leadoff hitter went 4-for-5 with five RBI, but his biggest hit was a three-run home run in the sixth that gave the Lions an 8-4 lead.

"Jon comes to play every game. We really respect his attitude. He's had a tremendous career. We're really lucky to have him," said PSU coach Paul Benim. "One thing I know is we'll be hearing about that HR at alumni games and for as long as I coach. It was a huge hit."

But Behrend (30-15), which took an 8-5 lead into the ninth inning, couldn't close the game out in regulation as Wooster rattled relief pitcher Jay Condit (Cranberry Township/Seneca Valley). After what looked like a possible double play ball to end the game resulted in a throwing error, Wooster rallied to tie the game.

Somehow, though, the Lions remained loose and rallied for two runs to take a 10-8 lead. However, the rally didn't come without a modicum of controversy. With two out, Dustin Dubensky (Punxsutawney/Punxsutawney) hit a line drive to center that Wooster's Chris Wood made a sliding attempt to catch.

While Wood was slow to rise, both Gray and Josh Fyffe (Fredonia/Sharpsville) scored for the two-run lead. However, when Wood finally rose he appeared surprised he wasn't credited with a catch.

"I haven't had a chance to ask him about it, but I don't think he caught it," said Wooster coach Tim Pettorini. "(The umpires) said they thought he trapped it. It probably was the right call."

In the bottom of the 10th Wooster did get two runners on base, but Ryan Zamiskie (Jeannette/Penn Trafford) got Matthew Johnson and Matt Groezinger to hit into ground out to end the threat. Zamiskie improved to 7-0 after scattering three hits over the final 1 2/3 innings.

"Obviously were very pleased and Wooster is an outstanding program. Believe me we've learned a lot from (Pettorini). In the ninth inning they perpetuated the inning and caught a break with the error. I'm really proud of how we got the game to the 10th. We wanted to leave it up to the seniors."

Wooster, who hadn't played since May 1, seemed to be affected by the long lay off.

"Not very good. There are no excuses. We played tight. We didn't play very good," said Pettorini, whose Scots face host Marietta at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. "We haven't played in 19 days so I thought we'd come out a little rusty. I didn't think we'd fall behind 5-0."

Pettorini was surprised by his pitchers' inability to throw strikes.

"Their lead-off guy got on base all game," he said. "Somewhere along the line you have to throw the ball over the plate. They had a lot better swings than we did tonight. We threw a lot of bullpens and simulated games, but it's not the same. Bottom line is you can't do anything if you can't throw it over. We put ourselves in bad positions all day long."

Wooster starter Matt Barnes was roughed up early as he pitched only three innings after allowing six hits and five runs. Matthew Johnson and Greg Van Horn, who each went 3-for-4 with two RBI, led the Scots offensively. Van Horn also had a homer.

Behrend starter Michael Moyer (Clearfield/Clearfield) walked five and allowed four runs in six innings. He was pulled after throwing nearly 100 pitches, but also sitting through his second rain delay. The Lions also banged out 12 hits, including two from Ryan Kragnes (Bethel Park/Bethel Park).

"We knew (our freshmen) would compete, but to expect them to go out and beat them … it's a little bit of a Cinderella story," Benim said. "We won our conference tournament on Sunday. We played 18 innings. We come in here a little stressed. I'm really proud of those freshmen for coming out here and competing."

---story courtesy of Marietta College Sports Information