Aidan Steinbugl collected three hits and drove in a pair to help Pitt-Johnstown split a pair of non-conference games to begin a three-game series at the University of Charleston (WV) on Saturday. The Mountain Cats, now 3-8, held on for a 5-4 win in the opener, before suffering a 5-1 loss in game two.
In game one,
Cam Donaldson's two-out single to right in the top of the second scored
Erik Rhodes to give Pitt-Johnstown a 1-0 lead, but Charleston answered to tie it in the bottom of the frame after a Carter Rust double and Tyler Parks' RBI single to left.
The Mountain Cats regained the lead with three unearned runs in the third.
Logan Ferguson and
Justin Turcovski singled to start the inning and scored on Rust's throwing error, before Rhodes' single to right chased home
Devon Boyles to make it 4-1.
Charleston cut it to 4-2 in the bottom of the third, before Steinbugl's double to left in the Pitt-Johnstown fifth scored
Karson Reffner to get that run back.
The Golden Eagles narrowed it to 5-3 with a run in the bottom of the fifth and added one more in the bottom of the seventh, before loading base with one out.
Antonio Caporossi entered the game to pitch for the Mountain Cats and got Damian Witty fly out to left field. Zachary Syvertson was then called out at third base for not tagging up, preserving Pitt-Johnstown's 5-4 win.
Aiden Coleman started for the Mountain Cats and improved to 2-1 after allowing three runs on eight hist in five-plus innings. Coleman fanned four and walked one. Caporossi got the final two outs to earn his first save.
Rhodes went 2-for-3 with and RBI and a run scored, while Steinbugl doubled and drove in one, and Donaldson had a hit and an RBI for Pitt-Johnstown.
In a nine-inning nightcap, Evan Ulrich's two-run homer to left off Mountain Cat starter
Jared Dowey gave Charleston a 2-0 first inning advantage.
Pitt-Johnstown got an RBI single from Steinbugl in the top of the second, but run scoring ground outs from Rust and Wilfredo Mendez off reliever
Cole Sansom in the bottom of the third increased the Golden Eagles' lead to 4-1.
Zach Myers' wild pitch in the fifth gave Charleston and insurance run and set the final at 5-1.
Steinbugl was 2-for-4 with an RBI, and
Alex Ebeling,
Brody Roberts, Reffner, and Donaldson all had hits for Pitt-Johnstown.
Dowey went one inning and gave up two runs (1 earned) to suffer the loss and fall to 0-1. Sansom allowed two runs in two innings, Myers gave up a run in two innings, and
Seth Shuey struck out three in three scoreless innings for the Mountain Cats.
With the split, the Golden Eagles are now 5-10.
Pitt-Johnstown will wrap-up the three games series against Charleston (WV) on Sunday, before making their 2025 home debut on March 15 with a non-conference doubleheader against Bloomsburg at Point Stadium.
