Pitt-Johnstown fell behind 6-1 in the sixth inning, but rallied to tie, then got a
Dillon Boyer walk-off RBI single in the seventh to give the Mountain Cats a 7-6 win over top-ranked Mercyhurst in Friday's PSAC doubleheader opener at Point Stadium. The Lakers came back with a 12-0 win in the nightcap. Pitt-Johnstown is now 18-24 overall and 8-12 in the PSAC Western Division.
In the opener,
Evan Appleby's grand slam in the bottom of the sixth tied it at six, before Boyer's walk-off single gave the Mountain Cats the 7-6 win.
Jack Shirk tripled with one out in the Mountain Cats' first inning.
Brett Hileman then struck out, but reached on a wild pitch, and Shirk scored after working his way out of a run-down to put Pitt-Johnstown up 1-0.
Mercyhurst answered with a pair of runs in the top of the third, before adding four more in the sixth off of Pitt-Johnstown reliever
Brad Coleman. Jimmy Latona drove in one with a double to left, and Chris Gonzalez belted a 3-run to left-center.
Pitt-Johnstown came right back in the bottom of the frame with five runs, including
Evan Appleby's grand slam down the left field line, to knot it at six.
In the seventh,
Joe Gagliardi led off with a single, moved to second on
Tanner Cooks sacrifice bunt.
Dylan Kerstetter then grounded out to second to move Gagliardi to third, and Boyer's line drive single to right field plated Gagliardi with the game-winner.
Gagliardi went 3-for-4, Boyer had two hits and two RBI, and Appleby drove in four with his grand slam to lead the Mountain Cats.
Cam Hess earned the win after pitching a perfect top of the seventh to improve to 2-1.
Tyler Black started and held the Lakers a pair of runs (1 earned) on five hits over the first five innings.
In the nightcap, Mercyhurst scored six unearned runs in an 8-run third inning and went on to the 12-0 win.
Matthew Schneider's two-run home run in the Lakers' fifth increased it to 10-0.
Mercyhurst's Russell Lamovec held the Mountain Cats to just five hits and struck out 13 to earn the complete-game win.
Kerstetter doubled, while
Scott Thompson,
Mason Prickett,
Scott Kuczala, and Boyer all singled for Pitt-Johnstown.
Brantley Rice suffered the loss and slipped to 5-3 after allowing eight runs (2 earned) on eight hits in 2 2/3 innings.
Shane Supanick pitched the final 4 1/3 innings and gave up four runs on five hits.
With the split, Mercyhurst is now 32-4 overall and 19-3 in the PSAC West.
Pitt-Johnstown concludes the four-game home-and-home PSAC series against No.1-ranked Mercyhurst in Erie on Saturday, before traveling to a conference doubleheader at Indiana (PA) on Friday The Mountain Cats will then close out the 2017 regular season and celebrate Senior Day with a PSAC doubleheader against IUP on May 6 at 1 p.m. at Point Stadium.
