ALTOONA, Pa. -- On Wednesday, the Mount Aloysius Baseball team renewed their rivalry with Penn State Altoona, as they traveled down the mountain for an AMCC doubleheader with the Lions. While the Mounties (23-10, 5-5 AMCC) were either tied or ahead for 17 of the 18 innings played, they split the meeting with PS-Altoona (13-21, 4-8 AMCC).
Game One saw a unique pitching duel in the scheduled, seven inning contest. Both pitchers sent seven full innings with shutouts, sending the game into extra innings. With two outs in the eighth inning, the Mounties had first and third. They scored the first run of the frame on a balk, set up by a steal of second base that caused the pitcher to step off the mound incorrectly and force the run home.
Mount Aloysius would add four more runs in the top half of the eighth, including another steal play that saw runners steal both second and home, all with two outs. The insurance runs were helpful for Mountie starter,
Troy Misiura (Coalport, Pa. / Glendale), who went back out to finish the game. Despite giving up three runs in the eighth inning, Misiura earned himself the victory and improved to 4-1 on the season.
Due to the first game going to extra innings, the second game was then adjusted to play for seven innings. That did not go as planned, as Game Two would also play into extra innings.
The Mounties took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, as
Jeremy Eck (Myerstown, Pa. / Eastern Lebanon County) drove home a run on an infield single. They added more in the third inning, as
Owen McDermott (West Leechburg, Pa. / Leechburg),
Tyler Day (La Plata, Md. / La Plata), and
Sidric Grove (Clearville, Pa. / Everett) (2), all drove in runs for the Mounties, respectively, extending the lead to 5-0.
While the Lions got on the board with one run in the third inning, the Mounties added it back in the fifth on another double steal play, making the score 6-1. Unfortunately, the Mountie offense went cold, while the Lions chipped away. Altoona added two runs in the fifth, two in the sixth, and hit a game-tying solo homerun in the seventh inning, to keep their hopes alive.
Neither team scored in the eighth inning, before the Mounties took the lead in the ninth. The visitors scored twice, with Grove and
Trent Dickson (Reinholds, Pa. / Cocalico) each driving in runs, giving the Mounties an 8-6 lead. The Lions responded with two of their own, in the bottom of the ninth to knot the game at eight.
In the tenth inning, the Mounties were blanked and gave the Lions a chance to win, as they got a one out, RBI double, to earn the walk-off victory, 9-8.
Grove was a major key to the Mountie offense in Game Two, as he went 4-for-5 with a double, three RBIs, and three stolen bases.
Mount Aloysius stayed even in conference play, having split the first ten games, including Wednesday's. They are scheduled to host Pitt-Bradford, this weekend. It will be the first time since 2018 that the Mounties have hosted the Panthers at Calandra-Smith Field. Pitt-Bradford is currently 12-12 on the season, with a 2-6 record in AMCC play.
