After Bloomsburg earned a 12-10 victory over Pitt-Johnstown in Tuesday's first game of a non-conference doubleheader at Point Stadium, the Huskies were able to hold off a seventh-inning Mountain Cat rally to complete the sweep with a 5-4 win in the nightcap.
Jake Ansell went 6-for-9 with a pair of doubles and four RBI to lead Pitt-Johnstown, now, 12-20 on the season.
In game one,
Dylan Broderick's long two-run home run off to right field gave Pitt-Johnstown an early first inning advantage, but Bloomsburg came back with a pair of runs in the top of the second off of Mountain Cat starter
Zach Myers to tie it.
Ansell's single to center in the Pitt-Johnstown second scored
Ethan Wells to give the lead back to the Mountain Cats.
However, the Huskies sent 14 hitters to the plate in the third and scored nine runs on eight hits to go in front, 11-3.
After Bloomsburg added another run, the Mountain Cats got two runs back in the fifth, and two more in the sixth on Ansell's RBI single and Broderick's sacrifice fly.
Pitt-Johnstown cut it to 12-10 with three runs in the seventh, but that was as close as it would get.
Ansell went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI, and Noah Donnis had two hits for the Mountain Cats. Broderick belted the three-run homer, and
Devon Boyles and
Erik Rhodes each drove in a run.
Brando Souders took the loss in relief of Myers and fell to 0-1 after allowing four runs on four hits in 2/3 of an inning. Myers pitched the first 1.2 innings and gave up two runs on four hits.
In game two, Bloomsburg took a 1-0 lead on Dansby Keenan's RBI triple in the top of the second.
The Huskies made it 2-0 with a run in the third, before the Mountain Cats cut the deficit in half when
Garrett Prosper tripled home Ansell in the bottom of the fourth.
Bloomsburg got two more runs in the top of the fifth, including Eli Riley's solo homer to lead off the inning, that increased it to 4-1.
Ansell then delivered a two-run double down the right field line in the bottom of the fifth to get the Mountain back to within one at 4-3, but the Huskies tacked on one more in the top of the seventh on Anthony Viggiano's lead-off home run to center.
Pitt-Johnstown didn't go away. After
Gaige Reighard's double to center put runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the seventh, Boyles infield single scored
Lucas McClain to cut it to 5-4. The Mountain Cats then loaded the bases, but Bloomsburg reliever Josh Marquard was able to get the final two outs to earn his third save of the year.
Ansell added two more hits, including a double and two more RBI, while Boyle and Prosper accounted for Pitt-Johnstown other two RBI.
Mountain Cat starter
Brandon Clifford suffered the loss and slipped to 0-1 after allowing two runs on four hits over the first 2.2 innings.
With the sweep, the Huskies are now 16-12.
The Mountain Cats will open a four-game PSAC West series against Mercyhurst with a doubleheader on Friday in Erie, before completing with a pair of games in Johnstown on Saturday.
