HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata baseball team split its Tuesday results at Langdon-Goodale Field, completing a season sweep of St. Joseph's Brooklyn with a 16-1 win to start the day, followed by an 8-6 defeat against Stevenson.
Connor Blough made his collegiate debut on the mound and executed a quality start with six scoreless innings, four hits, six strikeouts, and two walks. In relief, Blake Magill delivered two innings with two hits, no earned runs, three strikeouts, and one walk. Landon Black made his first appearance in the ninth inning, and worked out of a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout and no runs allowed.
Zach Johnston collected his second home run of the season as he went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs. Dakotah Snyder went 3-for-4 with two runs, while Michael Warren was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs, and a run. Charlie Bakken was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs, a walk, and two runs. Corey Daniels continued to wreak havoc on the basepaths with three stolen bases.
Juniata was quick to build a sizable lead with three runs in the first inning and five in the second inning. Snyder singled, stole a base, and then reached home on an infield error to open the scoring, while Daniels stole second following the error and was batted in via a Warren sacrifice fly. With two outs, Caden Collins completed a run of three straight singles by knocking in Bakken from third.
All five runs in the second came with two outs, started by a Daniels single, a pair of swiped bases, and a Warren double. Joey Woodrow was hit, followed by a two-run Bakken double, then Johnston's towering home run to left field to complete the scoring. Warren added two more in the third in a two-out RBI single.
Blough allowed three baserunners through the first four innings, and he stranded runners in scoring position with two-out strikeouts in both the first and fourth innings. In the fifth, he helped negate an inning-opening infield error by inducing a 5-4-3 double play.
The Eagles added one more run in the fifth inning, followed by a five-run sixth inning with three hits, three walks, and two hit batters.
St. Joseph's broke the shutout in the seventh inning following a one-out double and a throw that went past third base on a steal attempt. They went quiet until the top of the ninth, as Black worked back from a hit batter and two walks to get a game-ending strikeout.
Stevenson worked back from a 6-5 deficit with two runs in the eighth inning and one in the ninth to earn the win in the later contest.
Jace Irvin hit his first career home run and collected two RBIs. Daniels went three-for-4 with an RBI and again was a problem on the basepaths with two stolen bases. Bakken went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs, and a walk.
Ari Lonstein made it through 4 and 2/3 innings with four earned runs, five hits, three strikeouts, and three walks before being relieved by Jason Waguespack for three innings of service with two earned runs, a hit, a strikeout, and a walk. Connor Krahulec didn't allow an earned run in 1 and 1/3 innings of service.
Stevenson opened scoring loudly with a pair of solo home runs in the second inning, the only two hits through the first two innings on either side. One inning later, Irvin followed Tim Coleman's opening walk with his home run to center field. Juniata added one more run on a sequence that featured a Jordan Chui single, a Snyder single, a Daniels sacrifice bunt, and a Warren single. The Mustangs were able to get two strikeouts to escape a bases-loaded jam.
The Mustangs let the lead stand for moments, scoring two runs in the fourth inning on a walk, double, single, flyout, and RBI groundout sequence.
A run of three infield errors for Juniata in the fifth inning allowed Stevenson to add another run in the fifth inning. The Eagles were able to respond back in the seventh inning with an RBI single for Daniels to score Snyder one. Daniels then stole second on a pickoff, Johnston walked, the duo advanced a base on a passed ball, and Bakken hit a double to center to score both.
Yet again, the Mustangs erased the 6-5 lead with two runs in the eighth, doing all of the work with two outs. The run began with another Juniata infield error followed by three straight singles before a ground ball to first ended the top of the eighth.
They added another run in the ninth inning for insurance via a runner-on-the-corners steal of second to bait a throw, allowing the runner to score from third. Juniata was unable to get a runner in scoring position in the ninth following a one-out Daniels single.
Juniata defensively struggled with five infield errors against the Mustangs.
Through seven games, Snyder, Warren, and Bakken have reached base safely in each game, while Daniels has done so in the five games he's played.
Juniata continue their spring break homestand as they host Penn College on Thursday at 3:30 pm.
