ALTOONA, Pa. – Juniata baseball turned a 2-6-4 triple play in the bottom of the sixth en route to a 4-3 victory in game two, earning a series split against Penn State-Altoona Tuesday. The Lions took game one 5-4.
With runners on first and second, the Lions' Austin Anderson fouled out to Hunter Price (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon). Price threw a laser to Chris Schreder (Lititz, Pa. / Lancaster Catholic), who quickly turned the ball to Isaac Kline (Everett, Pa. / Bedford) for the triple play.
The Eagles found themselves down 2-0 after the first inning of game two but quickly evened the score.
Joe Klusman (Wilmington, Del./ St. Elizabeth) led off the inning for Juniata with a bunt-single. Kline doubled out to left field to bring in Klusman and put the Eagles on the board. Sinisi would then move Kline to third on a sacrifice bunt. A groundout to the shortstop from Price brought in Kline to tie the game up at 2.
The Lions got back on top with a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third.
Juniata answered back with two runs in the fourth. Back-to-back walks from Sinisi and Kline set up Nick Stubbs (Hagerstown, Md. / South Hagerstown) for an RBI-single out to left field. With two outs, Anthony Lombardo (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona Area) singled out to right to bring in Price and give Juniata the lead 4-3.
J.D. Weyant (New Paris, Pa. / Chestnut Ridge) earned his first collegiate win on the mound, tossing 5.0 innings and recording two strikeouts. Sinisi came in for the save and threw the final two innings for the Eagles.
In game one, Penn State-Altoona was up 2-0 before the Eagles got on the board in the third.
Devyn Carper (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona Area) drew a walk with two outs. A fielding error from the second basemen brought Lombardo to first and advanced Carper to second. Schreder then ripped a double out to right centerfield to knock in two runs, tying the game.
The Lions answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Until the bottom of the fifth, the score remained 5-2. PS-Altoona quickly recorded two outs before Carper sparked the offense with a single to centerfield. Lombardo blasted a triple out to left field to bring Carper home. Lions' pitcher Mike Marley would get caught on a balk, allowing Lombardo to score.
The Lions would get out of the inning and hold out for the win in game one 5-4.
Caleb Pepperday (Phillipsburg, Pa. / Phillipsburg-Osceola) started on the mound and went 3.1 innings for Juniata and recorded two strikeouts. Ichiro Narita (Brooklyn, NY / Brooklyn Latin School) came in as relief and tossed 2.2 innings and gave up just two hits.
Juniata returns home to Langdon-Goodale Field this weekend for a three-game Landmark Conference series against the Susquehanna Crusaders. The series begins Fri. March 25 at 3:00 p.m.
