Baseball Falls in Game One; Six-Run Ninth Inning in Game Two Propels Lions to AMCC Championship

PITTSBRUGH, Pa. – After falling to La Roche (29-10) 19-4 in the first game of the day, the Penn State Behrend baseball team rebounded with a six-run ninth inning after trailing 5-0 in game two to advance to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championship game.

The Lions (25-11-1) trailed Pitt-Greensburg (24-19-1) 5-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth and plated six runs in the frame to steal the victory. After a single from David Boehme (Venetia, PA/Seton-La Salle) to lead off the inning, back-to-back walks loaded the bases with nobody out.

Matt Wolczko (Apollo, PA/Kiski) brought in Behrend's first run on a fielder's choice and Brian Bohman (Erie, PA/McDowell) followed with a walk. Ryan Finnegan (Fombell, PA/Riverside) singled home another run, making the score 5-2 with one out and the bases loaded.

Brandon Bergstrom (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) added a sacrifice fly cutting the lead to just two. Corey Bowers came up with the clutch game-tying hit with two outs on a single to left field that plated two runs to tie the game.

In his second at-bat of the inning, Boehme capped off the comeback victory with a single up the middle that brought home the winning run.

Jack Herzing (St. Marys, PA/Elk County Catholic) worked eight innings on the hill piling up nine strikeouts. He allowed only one earned run and six hits.

In his second appearance out of the bullpen on the day, Connor Semple (Washington, PA/McGuffey) earned the win after throwing the ninth inning.

Finnegan led the team with four hits on the day including a 3-for-5 outing in game two against Pitt-Greensburg. Bergstrom went 3-for-5 in the two games chipping in an RBI in game two.

With the victory, Behrend advances to the championship game out of the loser's bracket. The Lions will need to defeat La Roche twice tomorrow in order to earn the conference crown. The first game will begin at 10 a.m.