CRESSON, Pa. -- The Mount Aloysius Baseball team earned a hard-fought split, on Saturday, in their AMCC regular season finale against Penn State Behrend. They used a walk-off, grand slam, by Joshua Brown (Manassas, VA, Osbourn Park), to win Game One, before falling in Game Two, in extra innings.

GAME 1
- Mount Aloysius jumped out ahead, in the first inning, using some small ball. The Mounties laid down two bunts in the inning, including a leadoff single, by Cody Smith (Loysville, PA, West Perry). After Brayden Lackey (New Cumberland, PA, Cedar Cliff) grounded out with the bases loaded, driving in the first run, Troy Emert (Rockwood, PA, Rockwood) drove home the second on a suicide squeeze, with the second bunt of the inning. They would not be the last bunts by the Mounties.
- Mountie starting pitcher, Creek Miller (Lakewood, OH, Lakewood), held the Lions scoreless in the second inning, after allowing a leadoff triple, getting three consecutive ground outs to leave the runner stranded.
- In the top of the third, Penn State Behrend added two runs of their own. A leadoff homerun cut the Mountie lead in half, then a second run scored on a two-out single, tying the game.
- Fast-forward to the bottom of the fourth inning, with two runners on, Trap Wentling (Greenville, PA, Greenville) reached on a bunt base hit, to load the bases for the Mounties, with nobody out. Graham Spitz (Hagerstown, MD, North Hagerstown) produced an RBI on a sac-fly, which was dropped by the Lions, leaving the bases loaded with no outs and a run across. Tyler Suder (Boswell, PA, North Star) produced another sacrifice fly on the next pitch, but the play turned into a double-play as a runner was cut down, trying to tag and reach second base. With two outs and two runs in, Smith singled to left field, driving in the third run of the frame, putting the Mounties ahead, 5-2.
- Mount Aloysius added more onto their lead, in the fifth, as the first three batters all got hits. Ryan Leonard (James Creek, PA, Tussey Mountain) tripled to start off the inning, followed by a Jeremy Iellimo (Arnold, PA, Valley Area) single that drove him home. Lackey followed that with a double to drive home Iellimo. Lackey would later score on a Brown double, down the left field line. The Mountie lead was 8-2.
- The Lions chased Miller from the game, in the sixth, when they loaded the bases and promptly unloaded them with a three-run triple, cutting the lead to 8-5. They also backed the Mounties into a corner, in the seventh, when they loaded the bases with no outs. Four runs later, the Mounties were heading to their final at-bat, down 9-8.
- Leonard, Lackey, and Emert all singled, loading the bases with only one out. Brown took the first two pitches, both balls, to get into a hitter's count. On the 2-0 pitch, Brown hit a fly ball into left center field, which ended up over the fence, for a grand slam. The grand slam gave the Mounties a 12-9 victory. The homerun was Brown's second of the season and his first career, walk-off hit.

GAME 2
- The second game got off to a slower start. Mount Aloysius jumped ahead in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs with no hits. Three Mounties reached base on walks, and a fourth reached on an error. Brown drove in his sixth run of the day, on a sacrifice fly, to give the Mounties a 2-0 lead.
- Mount Aloysius added a run, in the second inning. Alan Mackey (Altoona, PA, Altoona) led off the inning and reached base by getting hit by a pitch. He reached third with two out, but Leonard picked up a two-out hit, to drive Mackey home. 3-0 Mounties.
- In the third inning, Penn State Behrend scored their first marker, when a two-out double brought home a runner. The run cut into the Mountie lead, making it 3-1.
- Neither team would add a run, until the seventh inning, when the Lions used three hits to score two runs off Mountie starter, Dylan Coyle (Canonsburg, PA, Canon-McMillan). Coyle would be relieved after 6.2 innings, allowing three runs.
- The Mounties used a solid eighth inning to put themselves in great position, heading to the ninth. Brown tripled to lead off the frame. Spitz doubled him home, giving the Mounties a 4-3 lead. Jared Houser (State College, PA, State College) used a bunt to reach first, giving the Mounties first and third, with no outs. Bill McGinnis (Pipersville, PA, Central Bucks South) then picked up his first-career RBI, on a squeeze play, making it 5-3. Leonard registered his sixth hit of the day, with two outs, to drive home Houser, giving the Mounties a 6-3 lead.
- However, in the top of the ninth, Penn State Behrend hit a three-run homerun, with two-outs, to tie the game at six. The Mounties failed to score in the bottom of the frame, leaving two runners in scoring position.
- Penn State Behrend scored a run in the top of the tenth, to take a 7-6 lead. Mount Aloysius failed to get a runner on base, in their half, ending the game, 7-6.

HIGHLIGHTS
- Brown picked up four hits on the day and drove in six runs, including the four that came on the grand slam. He currently is tied for second on the team, with 27 RBIs. Lackey, who leads the team, with 29 RBIs, had two RBIs on two hits in Game One.
- Leonard was the only Mountie to pick up multiple hits in both contests, going 3-for-4 in Game One and 3-for-5 in Game Two. He also had two RBIs and scored three runs, on the day.
- Rhett Frazier (New Paris, PA, Chestnut Ridge), who earned the win in Game One, threw 1.2 innings, over the course of both games, only allowing one hit and no runs. Frazier has become a quality option out of the Mountie bullpen.
- The Mounties win, in Game One, broke an 11-game losing streak to the Lions. Their last win(s) against Penn State Behrend, prior to Saturday, came back on March 29, 2015, when they swept a double header, at home.

UP NEXT
Mount Aloysius will play their final game of the regular season, on Sunday, in a non-conference game against 15th-ranked, Shenandoah. The Mounties split with the Hornets, back in the season-opener. Following their single-game with Shenandoah, the Mounties will ready for the AMCC Tournament, which is set to start for them on Saturday. It is still to be determined, what seed they will be and who they will play.