ALTOONA, Pa. - The Penn State Altoona baseball team used a seven-run fifth inning in game one and staged an incredible comeback in the nightcap en route to a doubleheader sweep of non-conference foe St. Vincent Wednesday at the Stewart Athletic Field.  The Lions won the opener 10-6 before rallying for a 9-8 win in game two.

Altoona cracked 16 hits in the first contest including three apiece by Grady Luzier (Forest, PA/West Branch) and Jake Settle (Altoona, PA/Altoona).  Clint Wilson (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) went 3 and 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and three runs, and was lifted in favor of Matt McGrogan (West Chester, PA/West Chester Henderson), who got the win by pitching three relief innings.

Offensively, the Lions scored three runs in the first inning on RBI singles by Settle and Jim Byers (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg) along with a sacrifice fly by Cord Heine (Malvern, PA/Mercersburg).

St. Vincent answered with one in the second and two more in the fourth to knot the game at 3-3.  But a two-run single by James Stratico (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) was one of six hits that produced seven runs in the decisive fifth inning, helping the Lions to their first home win.

The Bearcats bolted to an 8-0 lead after 2 and 1/2 innings by scoring four runs in both the first and third frames.  The Lions sliced the deficit in half by pushing across four in the bottom of the third as Heine hit a three-run home run, his fifth of the season.

Ryan Pollicino (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union) got Altoona to within 8-6 by hitting a two-run single in the fifth.  The Lions tied the contest in the sixth when Luzier belted a two-run base hit and won the game on a Byers walk-off single in the seventh.

Penn State Altoona, which improved to 8-6, used four pitchers including Kevin Obermeier (York, PA/York Catholic), who pitched the final two innings and got the win.

The Lions are back in action this Saturday, March 21, for a 1:00 PM Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference doubleheader at the Stewart Athletic Field.