MANSFIELD, Pa. - The Mansfield Mountaineers baseball (7-14, 3-9 PSAC East) finished their four-game series with the Shepherd Rams (8-12, 3-5 PSAC East) on Tuesday afternoon.
GAME 1
Ryan King opened the mid-week doubleheader on the Mound for the Mountaineers. King gave the Mountaineers 6.1 innings allowing just three runs on four hits and striking out five.
Shepherd opened the scoring with a first-pitch home run over the right-center field wall in the top of the second.
The following batter singled to set up a potential big inning but King settled in quickly getting a double play and a groundout to third to keep the score at 1-0.
The Rams added a second with a sac fly to center in the top of the third to extend their lead to two.
Cole Serfass notched his second hit of the day in the bottom of the fourth but the Mountaineers left him stranded as the Rams kept their advantage at 2-0.
Ryan Sekulski and Zachary Shertzer teamed up with a pair of RBI singles to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth.
Austin Lewis came in relief for the Mountaineers in the top of the seventh with a runner on first. A Rams sac fly allowed the runner to advance to second before an RBI single up the middle allowed Shepherd to take a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the inning.
The Mountaineers went down in order in the bottom of the seventh and dropped game one 3-2.
GAME 2
In the second the Rams put runners on first and second with no outs but Mansfield starter Brad Hood worked out of the jam to keep the game tied at zero.
The Mounties struck first in game two with an RBI fielder's choice by Sekulski in the bottom of the third.
Shepherd responded in the top of the fourth, getting the run right back to tie the game at one.
Hood's day was done after four quality innings of work. He allowed one run on only three hits. Alex Buccolo came in relief for the Mountaineers to start the fifth inning.
Buccolo got through an inning and a third before working himself into trouble and being relieved by Joseph Gleason.
Gleason inherited runners on first and second with just one out. He got the first batter to fly out to center but walked the next two batters to allow the Rams to take a 3-1 lead.
Austin Beauchamp was called upon from the Mountaineer bullpen to get the final out in a bases-loaded situation.
The Rams singled through the left side to extend their advantage to four.
Andrew Tkatch lined a ball to center but was robbed of an RBI single by the Shepherd Center Fielder to end the bottom of the sixth.
Mansfield put two runners on in the bottom of the seventh but their rally fell short, losing game two 5-1.
UP NEXT:
The Mountaineers are set to host the East Stroudsburg University Warriors on Friday, March 29 at Joseph Shaute Field. The doubleheader action is scheduled to start at 1:00 with game two tentatively starting at 4:00 p.m.
