Behrend Baseball Splits Doubleheader To Kick Off Season; Ionadi Collects 100 Career Hits

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team opened the 2025 campaign with a doubleheader split at Eastern Mennonite on Saturday.

Noteworthy:

* Junior Silvio Ionadi (Pittsburgh, PA/Plum) stepped up to the plate in his first at bat of game two and delivered his 100^th career hit with a bunt single

Game One: Penn State Behrend 6, Eastern Mennonite 1
Records: Penn State Behrend (1-0), Eastern Mennonite (2-2)

Key Moments:

* Both teams plated runs in the first inning of game one
* Behrend got on the board first with a fielder's choice RBI from David Gibson (North East, PA/North East) and then scored another run on an Eastern Mennonite error
* The Royals cut their deficit one (2-1), plating a run on a throwing error
* The Lions added two more run in the top of the second on a wild pitch and Dylan Barnes (Pittsburgh, PA/North Hills) sacrifice fly
* In the bottom half of the inning, sophomore starter Andrew Bredel (Clinton, PA/Burgettstown) struck out the side
* Eastern Mennonite threatened in the bottom of the fourth with two runners on and one out, but Bredel was able to escape the jam with a fly out and groundout
* Spencer Deitz (Erie, PA/McDowell) tacked on an insurance run for Behrend with a two-out RBI single in the top of the sixth
* Reliever Jake Manendo (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) threw 2.2 hitless innings out of the bullpen to go along with three strikeouts to earn the save
* Bredel hurled 4.1 innings in the season-opening win, surrendering three hits and striking out three with the lone run on his stat line being unearned
* Barnes and Deitz each tallied two hits and a run batted in

Game Two: Eastern Mennonite 14, Penn State Behrend 6
Records: Eastern Mennonite (3-2), Penn State Behrend (1-1)

Key Moments:

* Once again both teams scored in the first inning with Eastern Mennonite taking a 3-1 lead, thanks to a three-run homer from Dalton Rocke
* The Royals notched runs in the first four innings of the second game
* The big inning for Eastern Mennonite came in the third inning when the team recorded four runs on four hits
* Behrend got a pair of runs back in the sixth and eighth innings on RBIs from Paul Connolly (Pittsburgh, PA/Mt. Lebanon) and Mac Ciocco (Venetia, PA/Peters Township), but it would not be enough as three Royals' relievers secured their game two win
* Freshmen Chase Caricato (Gibsonia, PA/Pine-Richland) and Cayden Turner (Stoystown, PA/North Star) made their collegiate debuts on the mound and tossed a combined 3.1 innings, allowing only one run on one hit
* At the plate, Connolly led the way for the Lions with three hits and three runs batted in

Up next:

* Behrend will finish out the four-game series tomorrow with another doubleheader in Virginia. Game one is scheduled for noon