GLENVILLE, W.V. – The Mansfield University baseball team won a nine-inning thriller, 6-3, in their season opener to earn a split with Glenville State College in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 19 at the Sue Morris Sports Complex. The Mounties fell, 10-1, in the nightcap.

The Mounties (1-2 overall) rallied for three runs in the top of the eighth inning and junior Josh Colon (1-0) shut the door in the ninth to open the season with a 6-3 non-conferece victory. 

Senior Ben Osborne (2-for-4) scored twice and knocked in a run, while senior Assaf Lowengart went 3-for-4 with a double, run and two RBI to lead the Mountaineer offense. Sophomore Marcus Nale picked up his first two RBI as a Mountaineer, while sophomores Zachery Shertzer and Zach Spray and junior Josh Farina also scored runs. Spray added a double. 

Colon threw a scoreless bottom of the eighth after taking over for starting pitcher senior Hunter DePrimo. Spray led off the ninth with a walk and advanced to third on a single by Farina. Osborne singled in Spray and Furina later came around to score when sophomore Brittain Shander reached on an error by the Pioneers' left fielder. Lowengart knocked in the third Mountaineer run of the inning, plating Osborne, to round out the scoring and lead the Mounties to the season-opening win. 

DePrimo tossed seven-complete innings, allowing just one earned run and striking out nine, while Colon allowed a run in two-complete innings to close out the victory. Jul. Minaya was handed the loss for Glenville State. 

The Mounties scored the game's opening run in the top of the first when Lowengart singled in Osborne, who led off the contest with a single. The Mounties extended their lead to two in the top of the third when Nales drove in Lowengart, who started the rally with his second single of the day. 

The Pioneers plated runs in the third and sixth to tie the game at two, but Nales picked up his second RBI of the contest in the top of the eighth to give the Mounties a 3-2 lead, knocking in Shertzer with a sacrifice fly. 

Glenville State pushed across a run in the bottom of the eighth to knot the game at three and keep the extra innings alive. Fabian Escalante finished with two hits to lead the Pioneers offense. 

In game two, the Pioneers scored four runs in the third and fifth inning en route to a 10-1 victory to notch the split on the afternoon. The Mounties lone run game in the second inning when Nales singled to knock in Lowengart, who led off the inning with a single. 

Nales finished 2-for-3 in the contest to lead the Mountaineers on offense. Sophomore Eric Gustofson allowed five runs through 2 1/3 innings to land the loss. Freshman Austin Lewis threw an inning and 2/3 of scoreless relief in his Mountaineer debut. 

Diego Tamariz allowed one run, while scattering three hits and striking out seven to earn his second victory of the year for the Pioneers. Mangum finsihed 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI to lead GSC on offense. 

The Mounties repeat today's schedule tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 20 when they take on the Pioneers for a 1 and 3 p.m. doubleheader at the Sue Morris Sports Complex.