Penn State Scranton Baseball Splits Doubleheader with Valley Forge

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On a chilly Saturday afternoon at New Jersey's Diamond Nation facility, the visiting Penn State Scranton baseball team split a twin bill against non-conference foe the University of Valley Forge Patriots, as they captured their first victory of the young season in game one by the score of 8-6, and in the night cap they dropped a 25-4 decision. With the win in game one, Scranton sees their overall record go to 1-2, all in non-conference game action, before they kick-off their all-important league play schedule on the road under the Friday night lights at Penn State Brandywine on March 24^th at the Maple Zone.

In game one, the road warrior Lions from Scranton came roaring back in a thrilling late game comeback, as they overcame an early 6-0 deficit entering the top half of the sixth inning when their offense showed tremendous grit and determination and exploded for a whopping seven runs to take back the lead and added a crucial insurance run in the seventh and final frame to seize their two run, 8-6 victory. Overall in the contest, Scranton also out slugged Valley Forge in the hit department 11-5.

Scranton had four players put up multi-hit performances in the opening game, as junior right fielder Garrett Walsh, freshman second baseman Alex Pagotto, sophomore shortstop Mike DeWolfe, and stand-out freshman catcher Thomas McIntyre led the way on the offensive attack. Walsh went 2-4 with an RBI, Pagotto went 2-3 at the plate with a run scored, an RBI, and a walk, DeWolfe was 2-3 with a run scored, an RBI, and a walk, and finally, McIntyre went 2-4, with a single and a double, a run scored, and knocked in two runs. Honorable mention also goes to senior Mark Longo, as he went 1-2 at the dish, with a walk, a run scored, and two clutch RBI. Meanwhile, Valley Forge had just one lone player have a multi-hit game, as sophomore left fielder Alex Shim led his squad going 2-3 at the plate, with a walk, and a RBI.

On the pitching side of things, Scranton started freshman right-handed hurler John Paffenroth who tossed a solid three innings, while allowing just three earned runs, four hits, and two walks on the mound. He was relieved by sophomore Ayden Ondek who picked up the win out of the bullpen, as he pitched two innings, only allowing just one hit, one earned run, walking a trio of batters, and fanning three Valley Forge hitters in the contest. Sophomore Javier Rivera pitched in relief as well, and Longo closed out the game, earning the save with his lights out two shutout innings he threw, allowing no hits, one walk, and striking out a batter. Meanwhile for Valley Forge on the mound, sophomore hurler Kasey Baumgart got the start and pitched a dominant five shutout innings, allowing just three Scranton hits, walking a trio, and striking out two batters. Fellow sophomore pitcher Jack Qualteria got the loss on the mound, as he struggled giving up seven earned runs during the Scranton Lions ferocious sixth inning comeback, to go along with five hits, two bases on balls, and fanned a batter to boot. Last but certainly not least, freshman Tyler Boccelli finished up the ball game for Valley Forge on the hill and threw an inning and 2/3, giving up a hat trick of Scranton hits, an earned run, a walk, and struck out a batter.

As for game two, Valley Forge bounced back in a big way from their season opening loss to Scranton and scored early and often as they cruised to their dominant 25-4 home triumph. The Patriots tallied a whopping 10 runs in the first inning, six in the second, another six in the third, a run in the fourth, were held scoreless in the fifth, and added two runs for good measure in the sixth frame. Overall the Patriots out hit Scranton in the night cap 16-9 in the seven inning showdown.

Scranton was led on offense by sophomore first baseman Zach Benson who slugged a team-high three hits in his four at-bats and scored a run. The Lions also got RBI's from shortstop DeWolfe who went 1-4 and drove in two runs, and freshman Guy Mushow went a perfect 1-1 at the dish and drove in a run as well.

Meanwhile, Valley Forge's offense was led by five players who had multi-hit performances, as senior catcher Allan Goodwin, freshman third baseman Camden Smith, fellow freshman infielder Brandon Dalmado, junior right fielder Kaden Gonzales, and freshman left fielder AJ Costantin set the pace for their ball club. Goodwin went a perfect 5-5 at the dish, driving in a game-high seven runs, scoring four times, and drew a walk. Smith went 2-3, scoring a trio of runs, knocked in three, and had a walk. Dalmado was 2-5, had a stellar five RBI, and scored a run. Gonzales went 2-4 at the plate, scored a run, and knocked in a run. Last but certainly not least, Constantin was 2-5 at the dish and scored a run.

On the pitching side of things, Valley Forge started junior Colby Hofmeiste, as he earned the win on the mound with his stalwart five innings, allowing just one lone earned run, gave up five Scranton hits, walked one, and fanned three batters. Sophomore Kyron Baker and freshman Josh Rodriguez each threw an inning to wrap up the game for their squad. Meanwhile, Scranton had five pitchers combined to throw the six innings on the mound in the contest, as Mushow, Rivera, freshman Alex Ferguson, Walsh, and McIntyre all saw action on the hill.

Now head coach Collin Ferguson and his 1-2 Penn State Scranton Lions baseball squad will look to capture another win when they next play a home doubleheader on campus on Wednesday, March 8^th, when they face-off against non-conference foe Bucks County Community College, with first pitch scheduled for 12 noon. Meanwhile, head coach Joe Clancy and his 1-1 Valley Forge Patriots will play another twin bill for the second day in a row on Sunday, as they host Hilbert College starting at 11am.