By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: J.D. Cavrich Photography
ALTOONA, Pa. – In a local rivalry with the Penn St.-Altoona Lions, the Juniata College baseball team earned a doubleheader split, dropping game one 7-3 before rebounding with the most impressive offensive output of the season for an 11-6 victory. The Eagles move to 6-24 on the year with nine games remaining in the 2014 season.
Seniors Derek Heath (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon) and Dan Gray (Johnstown, Pa. / Richland) led the way for Juniata in game one, each finishing 2-for-4 with one run scored while junior centerfielder Cody Krepps (Tyrone, Pa. / Bellwood-Antis) turned in a 3-for-4 performance and also scored one run.
Senior Brad Medellin (Lewisberry, Pa. / Red Land) took the loss in game one throwing four complete innings, giving up five runs from 10 hits. The two teams were scoreless until the bottom of the third inning when the Lions produced four runs and tacked on a fifth in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Eagles got on the score sheet with Krepps plating the first run and Gray coming home on a sacrifice fly by freshman first baseman Eric Grace (Hopewell, Pa. / Northern Bedford).
The Lions got both runs back in the bottom of the sixth for the 7-2 lead. In the top of the seventh, Heath reached first on a throwing error and advanced to third after a double by Medellin. The shortstop advanced the final 90 feet on a sacrifice fly by senior third baseman Joe Sforza (Pittstown, N.J. / Immaculata), but Altoona closed out the game for the 7-3 win.
Senior Mario DeYulis (Ebensburg, Pa. / Central Cambria) took the hill in game two for the Eagles and earned his second win of the season. The Lions took the early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second before Juniata pulled ahead with six runs in the top of the fifth. Grace led off the top of the fifth with a single up the middle and the Eagles loaded the bases on a single by sophomore Chris Sinisi (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona Area) and a bunt single by junior Nick Stubbs (Hagerstown, Md. / South Hagerstown). Sophomore Sheridan Doan (Timonium, Md. / Dulaney High School) drew a walk to force in the first run and Stubs and Sinisi scored on an error.
Krepps tacked on one more run with an RBI single to score Doan, and Grace laced a two-out two-RBI single in his second at bat of the inning for the 6-2 Juniata lead. Grace was a perfect 3-for-3 in the game with two RBI and two runs scored. The Lions scored once in the bottom of the fifth before both teams went scoreless in the sixth. Sforza got things going again in the top of the seventh for the Eagles with a leadoff double and dashed home on a wild pitch. Sophomore Anthony Lombardo (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona Area), senior David DeFreest (Duxburry, Vt. / Harwood Union), and Grace all scored on wild pitches in the inning. Stubbs grounded into the second out of the inning, but recorded an RBI as Sinisi was able to score the 11th run of the game for Juniata.
The Lions battled for three runs in the bottom of the seventh, but the Eagles defense shut the door for the 11-6 win. Juniata will face Penn St.-Behrend in a doubleheader on Saturday before returning home to face Elizabethtown College in a single nine-inning game on Monday, April 21, at 3 p.m.
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