PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The IUP baseball team erased two sizable deficits and held on down the stretch for a hard-earned 12-10 victory on Thursday afternoon against Chestnut Hill.
IUP (4-3) has won three straight games and needed another mammoth offensive output and some timely pitching late. The Hawks racked up 12 hits as four different players registered multiple knocks.
David Kessler and
Blaise Zeiders drove in nine of IUP's 12 runs, collecting five and four RBI each. The duo each homered on a big day for the IUP bats.
IUP's pitching staff whirled four shutout innings after Chestnut Hill (4-9) got off to a fast start.
Freshman
Dane Samartino fired three scorless innings in relief (46 pitches), picking up his first collegiate victory with three strikeouts. Another freshman,
Addison Clymer, worked past a pair of leadoff hits in the ninth for his first collegiate save.
While the offense delivered once again on Thursday for IUP, perhaps the biggest play of the day came on the defensive end. The Hawks got a key double play in the ninth on a flyout, later securing the win later in the frame.
Down 4-0, IUP answered back in a big way with two-run home runs from Kessler and Zeiders. The home runs worked the score even at four before Chestnut Hill swiftly regained the advantage at 8-4.
Kessler and Zeiders provided a one-two offensive punch again for IUP in the fourth. Kessler scored
Au'sean Owens with a single before Zeiders sliced the IUP deficit to 8-7 with a double.
Trailing 9-7, IUP took its first lead of a back and forth contest in the fifth.
Harrison Pontoli reached on an error, allowing
Davin Landers to score. From there, IUP mustered across two more unearned runs on plays along the infield.
Kessler grounded home
Zach Miller and
Ricardo Aponte slapped a single to the left side for a 10-9 lead. Chestnut Hill battled back and tied the score at 10 in the fifth inning with a run-scoring single.
Showing resiliency once again, IUP got a lockdown effort on the mound from the duo of Samartino and Clymer. Offensively, Pontoli scored Miller with a single for an 11-10 edge. Kessler logged his fourth RBI of the day, reaching on a fielder's choice that scored Owens for the 12-10 final margin.
Up Next
IUP begins a three-game series at Wilmington (Del.) on Friday, March 15. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
Follow
For coverage of the IUP baseball program, follow the Crimson Hawks on X (Twitter) and Instagram @IUPBaseball and online at IUPathletics.com.
