(PAINESVILLE, OH:)  The Penn State Altoona baseball team lost a pair of important Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference games to Lake Erie Saturday afternoon.  The host Storm rallied to win the opener 4-3 before jumping out to an eight-run lead in game two and holding on for the 8-4 victory.  The Lions fell to 15-21 overall and 6-10 in the league while Lake Erie upped its record to 11-20 and 10-8 in the AMCC.

In game one, Altoona found itself ahead 3-2 entering the bottom of the seventh inning with right-hander Paul Keith (Smithmill, PA/Moshannon Valley) on the mound trying to close out the complete game.  But Lake Erie had other ideas and began the inning with a double and a single, placing runners on first and third with no outs.  A sacrifice fly scored the runner from third base and junior Ben Reed smacked the winning RBI double to give LEC the comeback win.

Keith went all 6 1/3 innings in defeat, giving up eight hits and only two earned runs while striking out four.  The Storm used three pitchers including reliever Dan Shreve who pitched the final 2/3 of the seventh inning and earned the win.

Lake Erie got its other two runs of the game in the second inning, both of which were unearned.  Altoona also plated two in the second inning when RJ Barnard (Hollidaysburg, PA/Hollidaysburg) doubled home Ryan Pollicino (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union) and Tyler Stiffler (Altoona, PA/Altoona).

With the game knotted at 2-2, the Lions broke the tie in the fifth when Rob Traister (Voorhees, NJ/Bishop Eustace) singled, stole second, and scored on a Grady Luzier (Forest, PA/West Branch) RBI base hit.

Luzier had two of Altoona's seven hits in the game.  The Storm finished with eight total hits.

Game two was a far different story as the hosts jumped on Altoona lefty Kevin Obermeier (York, PA/York Catholic) for eight runs on nine hits before Obermeier was pulled with no outs in the third inning.  Gerard Vath (Milford, NJ/Delaware Valley) and Nick Donato (Doylestown, PA/CB West) combined to throw four innings of scoreless relief, but the damage was already done.

Trailing 8-0, the Lions tried to battle back, getting three runs in the fourth and another in the fifth.  With two outs in the fourth, Chris Dixon (Camp Hill, PA/Cedar Cliff) doubled and scored on a Stiffler single.  Pollicino then belted a two-run home run to help Altoona cut the deficit to five. 

In the fifth, the Lions managed only one run despite three hits and two Lake Erie errors.  Michael Reale (Ligonier, PA/Greensburg Central Catholic) led off the frame with a double and scored on an error.  But after a Storm pitching change, Barnard was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second base on a Luzier single to end the Altoona threat.

Storm starter Paul Roskos got the win, hurling 4 2/3 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits.  Shreve entered in relief again, this time working 2 1/3 scoreless innings to preserve the victory.

Luzier and designated hitter Chad Snook (Lewistown, PA/Lewistown) each had a pair of hits for the Lions.  Altoona is back in action Wednesday for its AMCC finale, a doubleheader at local conference rival Mount Aloysius.  First pitch in Cresson is set for 1:00 PM.

CONTACT:        Penn State Altoona Sports Information
                           Steve Crider  --  SID
                           814-949-5173
                           sac310@psu.edu