HUNTINGDON, PA – The Juniata baseball team (6-14, 2-10 Landmark) lost a doubleheader against Penn State-Altoona (9-15) Wednesday afternoon at Langdon-Goodale Field.
The Eagles face the University of Scranton (9-11, 7-5 Landmark) in a three-game series this weekend with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 11. There are currently two other teams with a 7-5 record in the conference, so this weekend's games have the potential to shake up Landmark standings.
In game one against the Lions, Juniata got off to a 3-0 start in the first inning. Eric Grace (Hopewell, PA / Northern Bedford) reached on a fielder's choice and brought in Jacob Terry (Denver, PA / Cocalico HS). Kyle Pannebaker (Thompsontown, PA / East Juniata) singled to left and Chris Schreder (Litiz, PA / Lancaster Catholic) scored. Then Cody Krepps (Tyrone, PA / Bellwood-Antis) singled to short, bringing in Grace.
Penn State-Altoona answered with two runs of their own in the top of the second.
The Eagles gave themselves a two-run lead when Anthony Lombardo (Altoona, PA / Altoona Area) singled to center and Tyler Morris (Ellicott City, MD / Centennial) scored.
The Lions pulled away in the third and fourth, tacking on a total of 7 runs to make it a 9-4 game in their favor.
Juniata rallied and made it a 8-9 game after six. In the bottom of the fifth, Jonathan Geyer (Newport, PA / Newport High School) hit an RBI-single to center. Geyer later scored an unearned run off an error by Lion's pitcher Jeffrey Cannova. In the bottom of the six, Nick Mistretta (South Williamsport, PA / South Williamsport) singled to right and brought in Nick Stubbs (Hagerstown, MD / South Hagerstown). Krepps would also single to right, allowing Grace to score.
A grand slam from Jordan Swope would put the game out of reach for the Eagles and Penn State-Altoona took game one 14-9.
The offensive effort would continue for the Lions into game two and they would put up six runs on Zach Seyko (Laurel, MD / St. Vincent Pallotti) in the first. Seyko would leave Penn State-Altoona without another run until the fifth, but the deficit ended up being too much for the Eagles to make up.
Mistretta scored on a passed ball in the second to put Juniata on the board in the second.
In the third inning, Krepps hit an RBI-single to left, bringing in Chris Sinisi (Altoona, PA / Altoona Area). Mistretta hit an RBI-single to center and the Eagles would cut the Lions' lead to three at 3-6.
Penn State-Altoona eventually found a way to get their bats going again, adding on two runs in fifth and three in the seventh. They would get the sweep by winning game two 11-3.
Mistretta lead the offensive effort against the Lions, totaling four hits, two RBIs and two runs scored on the day.
With three important Landmark games against Scranton coming up this weekend, the Eagles will look to shake off the losses and get ready for the Royals. Game one begins at 1pm on Saturday at the Langdon-Goodale Field.
