INDIANA, Pa. – Adding more records to his name,
Ryan Uhl (St. Marys, Pa./St. Marys) became the new IUP single season home run king as he helped the Crimson Hawks to a doubleheader split with conference rival California (Pa.) on Monday afternoon at Dougherty Field.
Uhl hit two home runs on the day, one in each game, bringing his season total to 14 and passing Kyle Stryker for first all-time in single season program history.
The senior first baseman tied the record in the Crimson Hawks' 9-5 game one victory, crushing a ball over the fence in left center in the opening inning. His record-breaking homer came in the fourth inning of game two, bringing in three total runs with a shot to left field to give IUP a 7-6 lead.
The Crimson Hawks would eventually go on to lose game two by a score of 13-7.
Stryker's old record stood since 2010 when he hit 13 in 55 games and 183 at-bats. Uhl has hit his 14 homers in just 26 games and he's averaging a round trippers every 6.5 at-bats. Uhl is also the Crimson Hawks' second leader hitter, batting .352 with a team-leading 35 RBI, .868 slugging percentage and .449 on-base percentage.
The games today served as IUP's official home opener, as the Crimson Hawks have been forced to play their first 24 games of the season away from Indiana. With the 9-5 and 13-7 split with Cal and Slippery Rock's sweep of Gannon today, the Crimson Hawks have fallen to fifth place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division with a 7-9 league mark. They're also 11-15 overall.
Matt Douglas (Canonsburg/Canon-McMillan) picked up the game one victory, improving to 3-1 on the season after allowing five earned runs and striking out four in 5.1 innings.
Christian McClure (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) tossed the final 1.2 innings of scoreless ball, allowing two hits and striking out three.
Uhl went 2-for-3 with his home run, two RBI and two runs scored.
Jonathan O'Neill (Pittsburgh/Chartiers Valley) went 3-for-3 with three RBI, blasting a pair of doubles. IUP held the lead from the bottom of the first inning on, finishing with 11 hits and scored in the first, third and fourth innings. Also bringing runners around were
Rick Jones (New Castle/Laurel),
Mike Lupia (Middletown/Middletown) and
Chris Schaedel (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier).
It was Cal (13-14, 10-6) that grabbed an early lead in game two, getting home runs by Mike Fennell in the first and second innings to take a 3-2 lead.
Hunter Bigler (Washington/Trinity) showed some power in the bottom of the second inning with a two-run homer to right.
With the Vulcans leading 6-3 in the fourth, IUP capitalized on an early error to score four in the inning, highlighted by Uhl's shot.
Austin Mock (State College, Pa./State College) also had a two-out, run-scoring single.
Cal then came back to tie the game at 7-7 with a run in the fifth and broke open the game with six runs in the sixth, four of those with no outs, to make it a 13-7 ballgame.
Mock was credited with the loss, as he was one of five pitchers to see action on the mound for IUP in game two. He went 2-for-3 at the plate, driving in a run and scoring two.
The Crimson Hawks are scheduled to play a doubleheader at Mount Aloysius on Tuesday, with their doubleheader at Bloomsburg getting canceled due to scheduling.
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk.
