STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The Juniata College baseball team bounced back from a tough loss Tuesday by routing Penn State Altoona 19-5 Wednesday afternoon at Medlar Field. The run total is the highest Juniata has scored since beating Susquehanna 20-9 at the end of last season. Juniata hasn't defeated an opponent by 14 runs or more since 2010. The Eagles defense held Penn State Altoona scoreless for six innings to improve to 6-15 overall.
Juniata had season-highs of 17 RBI, 16 hits and 12 walks.
Senior Ben Mersky (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) went 4-for-6 with a double in the game. The centerfielder finished with three runs, an RBI and a stolen base. Mersky currently leads the team with a .313 batting average. Junior Dan Gray (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) and freshman Joe Klusman (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) also had multi-hit days. Klusman was 2-for-3 and Gray went 2-for-4, respectively.
Senior Andrew Groninger (McAlisterville, Pa./East Juniata) pitched 5.0 innings, giving up just two earned runs to earn the win. He improved to 2-0 on the year.
Juniata scored first but trailed 3-1 until the top of the fourth inning when juniors Joe Sforza (Pittstown, N.J./Immaculata) and Derek Heath (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) led off with walks from reliever Mike Keeler. The next batter laid down the sac bunt and put both runners into scoring position. Freshman Jimmy Szamski (Glen Arm, Md./Easter Tech) then worked his count to walk the bases loaded. With one out on the board, senior Chase Dykstra (Somerset, Pa./Somerset Area) singled to right field, scoring Sforza.
Mersky then singled to center, scoring Heath and tying the game up at 3-all. Tyler Johnston came in on the mound to relieve Keeler and walked the Eagles go-ahead run across. Gray then singled to right field and both Dykstra and Mersky scored to put Juniata up 6-3.
Three more runs would come across before Johnston could get out of the inning. Juniata scored in four of the last five innings. Keeler received the loss for Penn State Altoona who dropped to 5-13 overall.
Juniata remains on the road. They travel out to face Landmark Conference rival Drew University in a three-game series that starts with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 6 and ends with a single game on Sunday, April 7. Juniata is 8-4 all-time against Drew, but have dropped their last two meetings. The Eagles are currently 2-6 in league play.
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