LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The IUP baseball team regained control when it counted, holding off Lock Haven for a 9-7 win in 10 innings on a breezy Tuesday afternoon at Watkins Field.
IUP (7-4) smacked nine runs on 10 hits and needed seven different pitchers to navigate through the extra-inning victory. Lock Haven (6-13) worked the score tied with extra-base hits in the seventh in a back and forth game.
Ricardo Aponte went 3-for-6 at the plate with a home run, five RBI and two runs scored.
Harrison Pontoli walked twice and scored four runs on the day, while
Brady Yard recorded two knocks, a walk and RBI.
On the mound,
Cooper Baxter chewed up 3.1 innings in relief. He allowed just three hits and no runs, striking out two in 37 pitches.
Jake Black and
Casen Sandri earned the win and save, respectively, each with an inning of scoreless relief late in the game.
Aponte, who leads the team in batting average, cracked his first home run in an IUP uniform down the line in left for a 2-0 advantage in the first inning. Lok Haven countered back with four runs in the home half of the first, chasing IUP starter
Bryce Devan.
The Hawks regained the edge at 5-4 in the third. With a walk to Pontoli,
Blaise Zeiders pushed the runner to third with a single against his former squad. Aponte reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Pontoli as IUP trailed 4-3.
Peyton Johnson knotted the score two batters later, slashing a single up the middle and scoring Aponte from second.
Baxter entered and held LHU scoreless with an efficient relief appearance.
A walk to Yard with the bases loaded scored
Ethan Schimony, who drew a walk of his own as IUP moved ahead at 5-4. Run-scoring groundouts from Zeiders and Schimony widened the IUP lead to 7-5 before the Bald Eagles worked the score tied with single runs in the seventh and eighth.
Aponte delivered again in extra innings, scoring Pontoli and
Au'sean Owens with a go-ahead single in the extra session. Sandri worked a one-two-three inning for his first career save.
Up Next
IUP hosts Gannon for its PSAC West opener on Saturday, March 23 at Dougherty Field. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.
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