HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Juniata College baseball dropped a pair of games at home to Landmark Conference rival Merchant Marine Saturday afternoon as the Eagles moved to 9-23 overall, 4-10 in Landmark play.
Freshman Kyle Pannebaker (Thompsontown, Pa./East Juniata) led all hitters with a .714 batting average on the day. The third baseman went 5-for-7 with a home run and double for a 1.286 slugging percentage. Junior Ryan Morrison (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon Catholic) had a good day on the mound. He went 3.1 innings striking out six and walking just two.
Game One
Merchant Marine scored first and took a 5-2 lead in the top of the third inning. The Eagles responded in the bottom of the fourth. Senior Cole Walters (Mt. Union, Pa./Mt. Union) walked to lead off and Pannebaker hit is second homer of the year to pull Juniata within one (5-4).
With one out, sophomore Cody Krepps (Tyrone, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) singled to short and stole second to move into scoring position. Mariner starter Timothy Arne then hit senior Chase Dykstra (Somerset, Pa./Somerset Area) and walked senior Ben Mersky (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) to load the bases. Arne got behind in the count and walked freshman Chris Sinisi (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area), scoring Krepps and tying the game up at 5-all.
A wild pitch would bring Dykstra across and advance the runners. Junior Dan Gray (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) then hit a deep ball to left field that allowed Mersky to score, putting the Eagles up 7-5, before Arne got the next batter to pop out to third.
The Greyhounds rallied in the top of the fifth. After a double to left center brought a run across, Eagle starter Joe Sforza (Pittstown, N.J./Immaculata) hit the next batter and walked in the game-tying run.
Juniata had a runner in scoring position in the sixth, but could not get him across. Junior Nathan Strom (Ebensburg, Pa./Central) came in to relive Sfroza in the top of the seventh. His first pitch hit Grant Foley and Foley advanced on a failed pickoff attempt that went out of play. A sacrifice bunt moved Foley to third and he scored the eventual gamewinning run on a single to short. With two outs, the Eagle defense was able to catch Keil Silva trying to slip home on a bunt play to end the inning.
Strom received the loss, his first decision of the year.
Game Two
Merchant Marine scored eight runs in the first inning to help secure the win. The Eagles pulled their first run across in the third. With two outs and a runner on second, Dykstra singled up the middle to put Juniata on the board. The second run was in the following inning.
With runners on the corners, Pannebaker singled to right center on a 1-1 pitch, scoring Gray. Sophomore Chris Fulton (West Chester, Pa./Unionville) received the loss. Morrison was the Eagles closer.
The series between the teams concludes on Sunday, April 21 with a single-game at noon.
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