Baseball Sets New Program Record With 16 Consecutive Wins; Holds On To I-90 Cup

FREDONIA, N.Y. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team set a new program record with the team's 16^th consecutive win on Wednesday coming at Fredonia and also maintain possession of the Interstate 90 (I-90) Cup with its seventh doubleheader sweep of the season. The Lions surpassed their 15 straight win mark during the 2008 season.

Game One: Penn State Behrend 5, Fredonia 1
Records: Penn State Behrend (23-6), Fredonia (9-16)

Key Moments:

* The Blue Devils broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth, plating a run on a two-out fielding error by the Lions
* Behrend starter Alec Greenblatt (Oliveburg, PA/Punxsutawney) limited the damage to only the one run, working out of a second and third situation with a strikeout to end the inning
* Senior Chase Palmer (Brookville, PA/Brookville) tied the score at one with his first home run of the season in the fifth
* In the seventh inning, the Lions scored four runs on four hits to secure the game one win
* Silvio Ionadi (Pittsburgh, PA/Plum) started the scoring in the inning with an RBI double and then was followed by back-to-back-to-back runs batted in by Mac Ciocco (Venetia, PA/Peters Township), Daniel Boehme (Peters Township, PA/Seton LaSalle), and Danny Pedersen (Gibsonia, PA/Pine-Richland)
* This marked the first collegiate hit and run batted in for Pedersen
* Greenblatt, who received a no-decision, hurled five innings with three hits, a season-high five strikeouts, and the run charged to him was unearned
* Reliever Jack Baumgartel (Sewickley, PA/North Allegheny) tallied a clean sixth inning and got the first two outs of the seventh before running into a little trouble, but Jake Manendo (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) came out of the bullpen to record the final out and his fifth save of the year
* Six Lions registered a hit in game one

Game Two: Penn State Behrend 18, Fredonia 2
Records: Penn State Behrend (24-6), Fredonia (9-17)

Key Moments:

* The Lions offense exploded for a season-high 18 runs on 19 hits in game two
* Behrend opened the contest with nine runs on seven hits in the first inning, starting the game with the unconventional team reverse cycle from the first four hitters in the lineup
* Ionadi led the game off with his first homer of the season and then was followed by Tyler Burick triple, a Ciocco RBI double, and a Boehme single
* Dylan Barnes (Pittsburgh, PA/North Hills) and Hank Shaffer (Saegertown, PA/Saegertown) tallied two-run singles, and then the inning was capped off by a bases clearing three-run double from Ciocco
* Ciocco had two hits and four runs batted in just after the top of the first, while five other Lions delivered a hit and two players reached base via base on balls in the inning
* Behrend tacked on two more runs in the top of the second, thanks to a two-run double off the bat of Tyler Banks (Edinboro, PA/General McLane)
* Fredonia cut the deficit to nine (11-2) on a pair of RBIs from Riley Cardinali and Kyle Tedford in the bottom of the second
* An Ionadi sacrifice fly and Ciocco RBI single in the fourth gave the Lions a 14-2 advantage
* Freshman Brady Terzola (Akron, OH/Archbishop Hoban) notched his first collegiate hit which was a two-run double and run scored to help secure the game two victory and the 24^th win of the season for Behrend
* Sawyer Prince (Shinglehouse, PA/Port Allegany) made his third career start and earned his first career win, throwing 3.1 innings to go along with three hits, two earned runs, and two strikeouts
* Out of the bullpen, Evan Del Signore (Trafford, PA/Penn Trafford) (1.2 IP), Nathan Helphenstine (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) (1.0 IP), and Chase Caricato (Gibsonia, PA/Pine-Richland) (1.0 IP) only allowed one hit and combined to strikeout three
* 10 different Lions tallied a hit in game two with seven recording multiple hits, while six players drove in two or more runs
* Ciocco finished 3-for-4 with a game-high five RBIs

Up next:

* Behrend will travel to Pitt-Greensburg for Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) doubleheader on Saturday, April 26. Game one is slated for 1 p.m.