Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

INDIANA, PA – David McNeill (Pittsburgh/Our Lady of Sacred Heart) drove in five runs and Crimson Hawks pitchers gave up just three earned runs to help the IUP baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of Mansfield in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action on Wednesday at Dougherty Field.

The Crimson Hawks took game one 9-2 before winning game two 7-2. They up their overall record to 16-13 on the year while Mansfield falls to 12-17.

Game two was held up by a one hour and 25 minute storm delay in the second inning with the game tied at 1-1. The Mountaineers went on to score a run in the third to take a 2-1 lead but Robbie Zinsmeister (Hatfield/North Penn) drilled a solo homerun to left to tie the score again.

Ryan Uhl (St. Marys/St. Marys) came through with an RBI double in the fourth inning before the Crimson Hawks scored four more runs in the fifth to cap the scoring. IUP put three runners on to start the fifth when a Troy Foster (Shamong, NJ/Seneca) sacrifice fly to right field brought in a run. McNeill then singled through the left side to bring in another before a two-run single from Uhl gave the Crimson Hawks the 7-2 lead.

Three pitchers saw time on the mound for IUP in game two with Demetrius Christofes (Grantville/Lower Dauphin) picking up his first win of the season in 4.2 innings of work, striking out six and allowing one run. Austin Mock (State College/State College) started and worked up until the delay and Jared Weed (Washington Crossing/Council Rock North) worked a hitless seventh.

In game two, both teams put up a run in each of the first two innings to make it a 2-2 game early. Mansfield got its runs on a pair of groundouts while McNeill and Dylan Tice (Perkasie/Pennridge) each had sacrifice flies to keep the score tied.

The Crimson Hawks took the lead in the fourth when McNeill hit a three-run homerun over the fence in left center, his first of the season.

That led into a four-run fifth inning that saw Rick Jones (New Castle/Laurel) and Tice each smack RBI doubles while Foster added a run-scoring single as IUP went on top 9-2.

Matt Szukics (Hainesport, NJ/Rancocas Valley) went the distance on the mound for the Crimson Hawks, improving to 2-1 by scattering six hits and walking two.

McNeill finished his day 4-for-6 with three runs scored while Tice, Uhl and Zinsmeister each collected three hits. Zinsmeister scored five times on the day and stole two bases.

With the two victories, IUP Head Coach Jeff Ditch tied Arch Moore's record for most career victories with 182.

The Crimson Hawks get back to PSAC West play this weekend when they play Clarion in a four-game series. Action is scheduled to start in Indiana on Friday with the first pitch coming at 1:00 p.m.