After suffering a tight, 5-4, loss to Clarion in Sunday's opener of a PSAC West doubleheader at Pullman Park in Butler, Pitt-Johnstown got a complete-game from
Wil Fetrow and used a four-run fifth inning in game two to help secure the split with an 8-2 victory.
Lennox Pugh,
Joey Maun, and
Asher Corl all homered for the Mountain Cats, now 12-12-1 overall and 2-6 in the PSAC West.
In game one, Clarion jumped out to a 2-0 second inning lead off Mountain Cat starter
Ben Briggs, before Pitt-Johnstown responded with four runs in the top of the third. With two outs,
Justin Turcovski walked ahead of Pugh's belted two-run homer to left that tied it. Corl followed with a single through the left side and scored on a
Josh Reynolds double, and
Tyler Smith's RBI base hit to center chased home Reynolds.
The Golden Eagles came right back to tie it in its half of the third on Danny Fox's two-run single, and regain the lead, 5-4, on a Griffin Snyder sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth.
Pitt-Johnstown wasn't able to scratch out the tying run, and Anthony Tucci pitched a perfect seventh for Clarion to pick-up the save for Golden Eagles' starter Logan Schlegel, who
tossed the first six innings and gave up four runs on five hits.
Briggs suffered the loss for the Mountain Cats and slipped to 1-2 after allowing five runs on nine hits over the first four innings.
Brando Souders held Clarion hitless in two innings in relief.
Pugh belted a two-run homer, while Reynolds had an RBI double, and Smith drove in one with a base hit to lead Pitt-Johnstown.
The Golden Eagles got two hits from Scott McManamon and two RBI from Fox.
In game two, the teams exchanged runs in the second inning. Pugh singled and scored from second on Smith's base hit to left to give Pitt-Johnstown the lead, but the Golden
Eagles tied it on a fielder's choice RBI from Mason Kepler.
An unearned run in the third gave Clarion a 2-1 advantage, but Maun's first career home run, a solo shot to left-center, quickly knotted in the Pitt-Johnstown fourth.
The Mountain Cats regained the lead with four runs in the top of the fifth. Corl's two-run homer to left-center gave the lead back to Pitt-Johnstown, and Maun's sacrifice fly and an RBI single from
Jake Ansell made it 6-2.
Pitt-Johnstown added two more runs in the seventh and went on to the 8-2 victory.
Ansell had two hits and two RBI, while Corl was 2-for-4 with a home run, and Maun homered and drove in two for the Mountain Cats. Smith collected two this, and RBI, and two runs, Pugh had two hits and scored twice, and
Mario Disso had a pair of hits.
Wil Fetrow evened his record at 2-2 after limiting the Golden Eagles to two runs (1 earned) and scattering nine hits. Fetrow fanned three and walked two.
With the split, Clarion is now 6-17 overall and 3-5 in the PSAC West.
Pitt-Johnstown will host a non-conference, nine-inning game against Bloomsburg on Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Point Stadium, before beginning a four-game PSAC West series against Mercyhurst with a pair of games on Friday at Point Stadium.
