Dylan Broderick dove in four and
Devon Boyles belted a two-run homer to help Pitt-Johnstown open a PSAC Western Division series with an 8-3 and 7-4 sweep over Clarion, Friday afternoon at Point Stadium. The Mountain Cats improved to 11-17 overall and 4-6 in conference-play.
In the opener,
Noah Donis' ground out in the bottom of the second scored
Erik Rhodes, and
Alex Glumac followed with a sacrifice fly that allowed
Devon Boyles to score to give the Mountain Cats a 2-0 lead.
Clarion strung four straight hits together in the top of the third, including Daren Byer's two-run single to tie it, but Rhodes' RBI base hit in the bottom of the inning gave the lead right back to Pitt-Johnstown.
A run in the Golden Eagles' half of the third knotted it at three, before Broderick's RBI triple off the top of the right field fence got a four-run Mountain Cats response going in the bottom of the frame that put Pitt-Johnstown on top, 7-3.
Josh Ulery added an inside-the-park home run to increase it to 8-3 in the sixth.
Ulery went 3-for-4 with the homer and two RBI, while Rhodes added two this and drove in two for Pitt-Johnstown. Broderick singled, tripled and drove in one, and
Jake Ansell had two hits.
Benn Briggs got the start and improved to 3-2. Briggs tossed the first four inning and allowed three runs on eight hits, while fanning two and walking none.
Austin Hammerle picked-up his first save of the season after holding Clarion scoreless on one hit over the final three innings. Hammerle struck out five and walked one.
In game two, Pitt-Johnstown exploded for seven runs in the second, highlighted by Broderick's three-run double and Boyles' two-run homer over the screen in left.
Clarion scored two in the top of the fourth, then added two more in the top of the seventh off of Mountain Cat reliever
Garrett Holzapfel, but Broderick's diving catch in centerfield with the bases loaded sealed Pitt-Johnstown's 7-4 victory.
Along with Boyles' two-run home run, Pitt-Johnstown also got two hits apiece from
Garrett Prosper and Ansell, and a double and three RBI from Broderick.
Rodney Shultz got the win and improved to 3-2after giving up a pair of runs on six hits in five innings. Holzapfel pitched the finial two innings and surrendered two runs on two hits.
With the losses, the Golden Eagles dropped to 7-21 overall and 1-9 in the PSAC West.
The Mountain Cats will wrap-up the PSAC West series against the Golden Eagles with a pair of games in Clarion on Saturday, before hosting a non-conference doubleheader against Bloomsburg, Tuesday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Point Stadium.
