INDIANA, Pa. - The IUP baseball team totaled 10 extra base hits, including two home runs, as the Crimson Hawks split a doubleheader with Pitt-Johnstown at Dougherty Field Saturday afternoon.
IUP won the opener by a score of 11-2 and dropped a low-scoring nightcap by a score of 3-1.
Key performances
Sr.
Nick Hess: 3-7, run, two doubles, home run, six RBI
Sr.
Austin Mueller: 3-6, run, two doubles, stolen base
5yr
Chris Eisel: 2-3, three runs, home run, two RBI in game one
Sr.
Colin Williams: 2-3, run, two doubles, RBI in game one
Game one
The Crimson Hawks had by far their best offensive performance of the year, scoring at least one run in each of the first six innings of the game.
Nick Hess had the first big hit of the afternoon, blasting a three-run homer deep over the fence in left to put IUP up 3-0 in the first inning. He then made it a 5-0 game in the third, doubling off the fence in center field to score
Chris Eisel and
Ty Diehl.
UPJ got in the board with two runs in the third, but IUP answered back in the bottom half, with
Colin Williams hitting the first of two doubles to bring home a run and make it a 6-2 game.
Eisel hit a two-run home run to left, his fourth of the season, in the fourth inning while
Harrison Pontoli brough home a run with a triple in the fifth. The Hawks added two more runs in the sixth, first on a sac fly off the bat of
Billy Perroz and then on a double down the left field line by Diehl.
It was a joint effort on the mound for the Crimson Hawks, who saw
Tyler Diefenbach strike out four and give up just one hit through the first 2 1/3 innings.
Ben Hudock followed in relief, earning the win while striking out four without giving up a run in 4 2/3 innings.
Game two
The game had a similar start, as Hess drove home Pontoli in the first inning on a hard hit double to left. But the game fell into the hands of the starting pitchers, including IUP's
Chayce McCombie, who gave up just one run through four innings. McCombie struck out three and allowed four hits in the start.
UPJ tied the game at 1-1 with a double in the fourth, took the lead on a bases loaded single in the fifth, and scored an insurance run on a wild pitch in the sixth.
The Crimson Hawks couldn't keep the bats going after that first inning, totaling just two hits in the nightcap.
Up next
The Crimson Hawks play a four-game set with Mercyhurst next weekend, with the first two games at Dougherty Field Friday afternoon.
Follow
For coverage of the IUP baseball program, follow the Crimson Hawks on Twitter and Instagram @IUPBaseball and online at IUPAthletics.com.
