Lennox Pugh belted a solo homer to lead Pitt-Johnstown to a 7-4 win over East Stroudsburg in Saturday's opener of a non-conference doubleheader in East Stroudsburg. The Warriors answered with a 12-8 win in the nightcap, despite Josh Reynold's 3-run homer, to take two of the three games in the series. The Mountain Cats are now 7-5-1.
In game one, Pitt-Johnstown took the lead with singles runs in the fifth and sixth innings, before adding four more in the seventh to secure the win.
Lennox Pugh's solo homer in the fifth tied it at one, before
Mario Disso's infield single drove in
Justin Turcovski in the sixth to give the Mountain Cats a 2-1 lead.
The Warriors quickly tied it with a run in their half of the sixth, but Pitt-Johnstown answered with four in the seventh on RBI from Turcovski,
Josh Ulery,
Asher Corl, and
Tyler Smith.
Along with Pugh's solo home run, Turcovski went 2-for-3 with a two RBI, while Disso, Ulery, and Smith all added a hit and an RBI for the Mountain Cats.
Ben Briggs picked-up up the win in relief of starter
Rodney Shultz. Briggs allowed two runs on three hits over the final 1.2 innings. Shultz tossed the first 5.1 innings and held East Stroudsburg to a pair of runs on three hits.
In the nightcap, Pitt-Johnstown jumped out to an early lead on Reynold's 3-run home run, but the Warriors clawed back to secure the split with the 12-8 win.
Reynolds went 2-for-3 with the 3-run homer, while Ulery had two hits, including a double and an RBI for the Mountain Cats. Pugh and Smith also each had two hits.
Giovanni Scott suffered the loss after allowing five runs on three hits in relief.
Taylor Squiric got the start and surrendered three runs on four hits over the first 3.2 innings.
With the split, East Stroudsburg is now 17-3.
The Mountain Cats are scheduled to make their 2022 home debut with a non-conference doubleheader against Salem (WV) on March 19 at 1 p.m. at Point Stadium.
