CRESSON, Pa. -- The Mount Aloysius Baseball team opened up AMCC play for the 2025 season, on Saturday, as they went on the road to visit Alfred State. Due to weather and field conditions, the game was moved to Bolivar-Richburg High School. The Mounties struggled in Game One before evening up the day in Game Two, earning a split for the AMCC Games of the Week.

Game One set up for a heavyweight battle, as the starting pitchers were the AMCC Preseason Award Winners. Mount Aloysius' Tyler Quade (Mechanicsville, Md. / Chopticon), the Preseason Player of the Year, started for the visitors, while Ryan Bailey, the Preseason Pitcher of the Year, started for the Pioneers. The first three innings stayed with the hype, as the two teams combined for just four hits and one run, as the Pioneers held a slim 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately for the Mounties, Alfred State's offense gained momentum scoring three runs in the fourth inning, three more in the fifth, and five runs in the sixth. Mount Aloysius was held to just two hits during the contest, dropping the game, 11-0.

Despite the Mounties limited offensive output in Game One, they showed no signs of rust in Game Two. They jumped on the Pioneers early, scoring once in the first and five times in the second inning, which included a grand slam by Brandon Cook (Glen Burnie, Md. / St. Mary's), putting the Mounties ahead, 6-0.

Alfred State scored twice in the bottom of the second, with Mount Aloysius answering with one in the third, on a Griffin Tunison (Luthvle Timon, Md. / Dulaney) RBI single. Then, in the bottom of the third, Alfred State scored seven times to grab a 9-7 lead.

Mount Aloysius continued to put pressure on the Pioneers, by scoring once in the fourth inning on an inside-the-park homerun by Cook, then scoring six times in the fifth inning, which included Jeremy Eck's (Myerstown, Pa. / Eastern Lebanon County) first career homer.

Scott Ranallo (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Hills), who had appeared in relief to finish up the third inning for the Mounties, stifled the Pioneer offense over the course of the game. He allowed just one run over 6.2 innings, while scattering six hits and striking out seven batters.

Ranallo's pitching performance allowed his offense to continue extending the lead, as they scored four times in the final three innings. Trent Dickson (Reinholds, Pa. / Cocalico), Sidric Grove (Clearville, Pa. / Everett), and Eck all drove in runs in the seventh inning, while Cook hit his third homerun of the day in the eighth, to cap off the scoring, propeling the Mounties to an 18-10 victory.

Mount Aloysius is now scheduled to jump out of conference play for three games during the next week, before heading to Penn State Behrend, next Saturday. The Lions will open up AMCC play, on Tuesday, when they play at Pitt-Bradford.

A doubleheader at Penn College looms on Monday, as the Wildcats are 10-8 on the season after sweeping Penn State Berks on Saturday. Mount Aloysius will then play a single, nine-inning game, on Wednesday, at Juniata.