Jacobs’ Perfect Game Highlights Lions’ Sweep
Senior Ryan Jacobs threw a perfect game to help the Penn State Behrend baseball team defeat Mount Aloysius 1-0 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference action on Sunday afternoon. The Lions won the second game by a score of 1-0 as well.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 5 | 0 |
ERIE, Pa. – Senior Ryan Jacobs (Port Vue, PA/South Allegheny) threw a perfect game to help the Penn State Behrend baseball team defeat Mount Aloysius 1-0 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) action on Sunday afternoon. The Lions won the second game by a score of 1-0 as well.
Jacobs was brilliant on the mound for Behrend with six strikeouts in seven innings for the first perfect game in program history.
The Lions offense put the game's only run on the board in the first inning. Ryan Kragnes (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) started the game with a single and came around to score on an Evan Bukowski (Washington, PA/Trinity) RBI single to right center. Needless to say, that was all the support Jacobs needed.
Overshadowed by Jacobs' performance was the Mounties pitcher Derrick Capiak. Capiak only allowed the one run on five hits but took the loss. Jacobs improved to 5-0 on the year and is now second on the team in strikeouts (36) and earned run average (1.51). The senior hurler threw less than 70 pitches in the game and commanded the strike zone.
In game two, Dante DeSantis (DuBois, PA/DuBois Central Catholic) took the hill for Behrend. After witnessing a perfect game in the opener, DeSantis was almost as effective as Jacobs. DeSantis tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts in eight innings while only allowing three hits to earn the win.
On a day where runs were hard to come by, it was not until the bottom of the eighth that the Lions were able to walk-off with the victory. After Tommy Kocur (Erie, PA/McDowell) and Kragnes drew back-to-back one-out walks, John Hlavinka (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) came up with the winning run in scoring position. Both Kocur and Kragnes moved up one base each on a passed ball, setting the table for a dramatic sweep. Hlavinka came through for Behrend with a single to plate Kocur, helping the Lions to stay perfect in conference play.
Hlavinka led the Behrend offense with three hits in the doubleheader, but it was the Lions' staff that stole the show. In eight AMCC games this season, the Behrend pitchers have combined to allow just 14 runs, less than two per game.
The Lions will be back on the diamond on Tuesday to host D'Youville in an AMCC doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.