(PAINESVILLE, OH:) The Lake Erie College baseball team
used solid pitching performances by Dan Mason, Dan Shreve, and Paul Roskos to
down Penn State Altoona Sunday and advance to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate
Conference semifinals. The host Storm swept the best-of-three series from
the Lions, taking the opener 2-0 and rallying to take the nightcap 6-4.
Altoona concluded its season at 19-23 overall while Lake Erie moves on to face
Frostburg State in next Friday's AMCC semifinal round.
Mason and Shreve combined to fire a five-hit shutout in game
one, which started at 9:30 AM. Mason hurled 5 2/3 innings, scattering four
hits and striking out four Lion batters. Shreve, who would earn two saves
on the day, earned his first by pitching 1 1/3 frames of relief and allowing
only one hit.
Despite taking the loss, Lion starter Paul Keith (Smithmill, PA/Moshannon
Valley) threw well enough to win, surrendering two earned runs and eight hits
through six innings of work. The Storm tacked one run on the scoreboard in
the second when Keith Trumbauer roped an RBI single that scored Rocky Pfisterer.
Trumbauer stole second to put runners on second and third with one out, but
third base runner Mario Lombardo was picked off, and Keith got Ben Willis to ground
out to end the threat.
Ahead 1-0, Lake Erie added an insurance run in the sixth Dan
Dowdell led off with a single and was eventually plated on a Willis single three
batters later.
The Lions' best scoring opportunity came in the third when RJ
Barnard (Hollidaysburg, PA/Hollidaysburg) and Rob Traister (Voorhees, NJ/Bishop
Eustace) belted consecutive two-out singles. But Mason got Altoona slugger
Tony Petulla (Osceola Mills, PA/Philipsburg) to fly out as the visitors would
leave six men stranded in the game.
Lake Erie rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the second game, scoring
four runs in the sixth inning to close out the series. Roskos hurled six
innings and allowed four runs, although only one was earned, en route to the
victory. Shreve slammed the door again by firing a 1-2-3 seventh.
The Storm got one run in the bottom of the second to grab an
early lead, but the Lion bats heated up in the third to the tune of four runs
and five hits along with a costly Lake Erie error. Barnard opened the
frame with a double, and Traister bunted him to third. Petulla then
singled Barnard home before Luzier got aboard on an E-5 that should have been
out number two.
The next batter, Ryan Pollicino (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union),
flew out to right for the second out before consecutive run-scoring singles by
Tyler Stiffler (Altoona, PA/Altoona), Chris Dixon (Camp Hill, PA/Cedar Cliff),
and Nick Bucciarelli (Doylestown, PA/CB West) gave Altoona a 4-1 lead.
Lake Erie got one back in the bottom of the third when John
Shaposka hit a sacrifice fly that scored Ben Reed. Lion starting pitcher
Gerard Vath (Milford, NJ/Delaware Valley) was cruising along until the fateful
sixth inning when the Storm retook the lead.
Vath issued a leadoff walk to Shaposka but retired the next two
batters via a sacrifice bunt and fly out. He then walked Brandon James and
gave up a subsequent RBI single to Nick Lovick, narrowing the Altoona advantage
to 4-3. Freshman Michael Duffy (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown East) entered
in relief of Vath with two on and two outs but surrendered the game-winning
three-run home run to Ben Reed that advanced Lake Erie to the conference
semifinals.
Barnard, Petulla, and Bucciarelli each finished with two hits
apiece for Altoona, which out-hit Lake Erie 9-6 in the contest. The Storm
upped its record to 17-25 overall and will meet Frostburg State at Penn State
Behrend this Friday, May 9. Sunday marked the final career games for Penn
State Altoona seniors Petulla and John Wilson (Pittsburgh, PA/Fifth Avenue).
Lake Erie swept the Lions in the regular season meeting on April 19 in
Painesville by scores of 4-3 and 8-4.
CONTACT: Penn
State Altoona Sports Information
Steve Crider -- SID
814-949-5173
sac310@psu.edu
