Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

MURFREESBORO, NC – Aaron Lupia (Middletown/Middletown) finished the day 5-for-7 with six RBI but IUP dropped a pair of one-run baseball games to Chowan, falling 8-7 in 12 innings and 7-6 on Saturday afternoon.

The Crimson Hawks tallied 28 hits in the doubleheader as they fall to 8-6 overall on the season after splitting the weekend series in North Carolina.

Lupia went 3-for-5 in game one, driving in three runs and scoring another.

Chowan started the scoring with a run in each the second and third innings. The Crimson Hawks came back in the fifth with four runs to take the lead, getting things started with a Tyler Mroz (Pittsburgh/Chartiers Valley) RBI double to bring around Robbie Zinsmeister (Hatfield/North Penn). Lupia followed with a single, scoring both Ryan Uhl (St. Marys/St. Marys) and Ricky Jones, who ran for Mroz. Two batters later Austin Mock (State College/State College) singled to left, bringing Lupia across the plate.

The Hawks got one back in the fifth before tying the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out RBI single.

Both teams went scoreless through two extra innings before the Crimson Hawks went for three runs in the 10th, seemingly securing the win. Uhl's double to center brought home a run before an RBI single by Hunter Bigler (Washington/Trinity) gave IUP a 6-4 lead. Lupia finished off the scoring with a sacrifice fly, bringing home Uhl.

Chowan loaded the bases with one out in its half of the 10th, getting back-to-back RBI singles to tie the score at 7-7 and extend the game. The Hawks then led off the 12th with a double, which later became the winning run on a fielding error with two outs.

Demetrius Christofes (Grantville/Lower Dauphin) got the start for IUP, going 3.1 innings and giving up two earned runs. Kyle Zaorski (Reading/Muhlenberg) went five innings in relief and struck out seven, but also gave up eight hits and four earned. Matt Szukics (Hainesport, NJ/Rancocas Valley) and Mock also threw, combining for 3.1 innings, four hits and one earned run.

IUP scored first in game two as Lupia singled through the left side, scoring Uhl in the top half of the first. Chowan knotted the score in its half of the inning, also on an RBI single.

The Crimson Hawks picked up two more in the third, getting one on a Lupia double and another on a single off the bat of John Beatty (New Castle/Mohawk).

The back-and-forth game continued in the bottom of the third as the Hawks added four runs to their total to go on top 5-3.

An RBI single by Uhl in the fourth made it 5-4 before the Crimson Hawks took the lead in the sixth at 6-4 with two more runs. Lupia brought one in after getting hit by a pitch and Beatty was responsible for the other with a sacrifice fly.

Chowan tied the game in the seventh on a one-out RBI single before clinching the win three batters later with an RBI single to left.

The Crimson Hawks return to the field next weekend with a four-game series against Millersville.