HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata baseball team picked up two wins against visiting Catholic (5-4, 10-1) to get their first pair of conference wins in a day since 2013, on a windy and cold Friday afternoon at Langdon-Goodale Field.
The Cardinals struck first on a two-run double to center in the top of the second, and it was three more innings before either team scored again.
In the bottom of the fifth, Ryan McClain (Hughesville, Pa. / Hughesville) hit a two-out single to left, and Isaac Maclay (Belleville, Pa. / Mifflin County High School) sent him home with a double to center. Dakotah Snyder (Lewisburg, Pa. / Lewisburg) single to left scored Maclay and gave the Eagles their first lead of the day.
The next inning saw the Eagles use good judgment at the plate and capitalize on several Cardinal miscues as they scored three unearned runs with the help of two errors to make it 5-2.
Catholic scored two in the top of the seventh to make it interesting, but Jack Dovidio (Glenmore, Pa. / Downingtown West) induced a ground ball to first that Maclay managed to coral and step on first to seal the win.
Dovidio went the distance to get the win, allowing five hits and four runs while striking out a career-high nine batters. It was the Eagle's first win over Catholic since 2017.
Game two saw Juniata score in the first four innings, including their biggest inning of the year so far with seven in the second as they dominated throughout.
Snyder knocked in the first run as his sac fly to the centerfielder allowed Maclay to tag up from third.
The second saw Evan Mock (Mifflin County, Pa / McVeytown) drive in three runs as his single to left scored Joshua Gery (Pottstown, Pa. / Pottstown Senior High School), Sam Craig (Mullica Hill, N.J. / Kingsway Regional), and Michael Warren (New Berlin, Pa. / Mifflinburg Area) to make it 4-0. Two batters later, Maclay smacked a double to left-center, the 100th hit of his career, which scored McClain and Mock. Jake Swank's (Portage, Pa. / Portage) two-run single to right made it 8-0 after two.
Isaac Maclay gets his 100th career hit on a double to left-center #wingsup #d3baseball #LandmarkBase #goeagles pic.twitter.com/KE7CLRDftH
— Juniata Athletics (@JuniataEagles) April 2, 2021
Blake Hoover (Lititz, Pa. / Warwick) had an RBI-single to right in the third, and Maclay smashed another ball over the fence in the fourth, a solo homer to left-center, which is his fifth of the year, to make it 10-0 through four.
The Cardinals got one back in the seventh, but JC quickly ended things before Catholic could get any ideas of a comeback, winning 10-1.
Chase Alessandroni (Royersford, Pa. / Springford) picked up his first career win as he went 5.0 innings, allowed two hits, and struck out four.
With his single in the second of the second game, Swank extended his hitting streak to 16 games, going all the way back to Florida last year.
The Eagles head to Catholic tomorrow for the second half of the series. The first pitch is at 12:30
