BETHLEHEM, Pa.- The Juniata baseball team got a split at Moravian on day one of their first Landmark Conference series of the season, winning game one 8-2 before dropping the second 9-5 Saturday afternoon at Gillespie Field.
Chase Alessandroni (Royersford, Pa. / Springford) went the distance to get the win in game one, allowing four hits two runs while striking out eight.
Joey Woodrow (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine-Richland) clobbered a homer to left in the second inning to put the Eagles ahead early.
In the fourth, Colson Lewis (Tipton, Pa. / Tyrone Area) led off with a double, and two batters later, Aaron Bollinger (Millerstown, Pa. / Greenwood) singled to left as Lewis went first to third. Lewis crossed the plate and doubled the Eagle lead on Joey Allegrini's (Hershey, Pa. / Hershey) sacrifice fly to center.
Juniata had their highest-scoring inning in the sixth as Bollinger drove in two runs with a single up the middle while Evan Mock (McVeytown / Mifflin County H.S.) knocked in a pair with a double to right-center. A two-run homer to right in the bottom half of the inning was the only runs they managed off Alessandroni.
In the eight, with Bollinger and Mock at first and second as Allegrini bunted Bollinger over, Isaac Maclay (Belleville, Pa. / Mifflin County) lined a double to left to plate Bollinger. Jake Swank (Portage, Pa. / Portage)hit a sac fly to right, which allowed Mock to score, which was the final time either team crossed home plate in game one.
Alessandroni's nine-inning complete game was the first for the program since Hunter Price through a complete game over nine innings against Susquehanna back in 2019.
In game two, Drew Westover (Burnham, Pa. / Mifflin County) took the mound and went six innings while allowing five hits, six runs, and struck out four.
Moravian got on the board first via a sac fly to left.
The Eagles responded in the next half inning as Mock reached on an infield single, and Maclay did the rest with a blast over the left-field fence to make it 2-0.
In the fourth, Corey Daniels (Vandling, Pa. / Forest City Regional) singled through the right side, and Bollinger drew a walk. Allegrini flew out to center, and Lewis scored all the way from second. A Mock double to right-center sent Bollinger home as JC led 4-1 through four innings.
The Eagles tacked on a run in the sixth, but it ultimately was not enough as the Greyhounds put together a monster seventh inning that saw them score eight runs on five hits to go with two Eagle errors.
Juniata could not bounce back in the eighth and ninth, so tomorrow's game will decide the series. The first pitch is at 12:00.
