WINCHESTER, Va. - The Penn State Altoona baseball team endured a tough start to its 2009 season, managing a total of 12 hits and three runs in a pair of non-league games at Shenandoah University Tuesday afternoon.  SU won the opener 20-2 before taking the finale by a 10-1 count.

In game one, Shenandoah scored two runs in the first inning and five more in the second, chasing Lion starter Gerard Vath (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) after just 1 1/3 innings.  After Altoona got two runs in the fourth, the Hornets responded with a monster 11-run bottom of the fourth that saw 15 batters step to the plate.

Five players had multiple hits for the winners, which got six RBI from first baseman Cory Nelson.  All but two of the Shenandoah runs were earned, although the Lions did commit four errors in the opener.

Sophomore Grady Luzier (Forest, PA/West Branch) had a pair of hits for Penn State Altoona and also scored a run.  Vath took the loss, while Hornet starter Greg Van Sickler got the win, hurling five innings and striking out 10 Lion hitters.

The nightcap wasn't much better for Altoona, which saw ace pitcher Paul Keith (Smithmill, PA/Moshannon Valley) get touched up for seven hits and seven earned runs in only three innings of work.  Shenandoah scored all 10 of its runs before the Lions got on the board in the sixth when John Schall (Snow Shoe, PA/Bald Eagle) scored on a Luzier ground out.

The Hornets scored four in the opening inning, got another in the second, and ballooned its lead to 7-0 with three more in the third.  Josh Simons went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in a pair of runs for the victors.

Lion freshmen Tom Rafetto (Malvern, PA/Great Valley) and Shaun Delozier (Cape Coral, FL/Ida S. Baker) pitched scoreless fifth and sixth innings, respectively, for Penn State Altoona.  Nelson was the winning pitcher in game two, scattering five hits and fanning five in six innings of mound time.

Penn State Altoona dropped to 0-2 overall.  The Lions are back in action this Sunday, March 1, for a doubleheader at Washington & Lee.  First pitch is at 1:00 PM.