Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University baseball team lost for the first time this season when junior Dan Altavilla started on the mound, dropping a 2-1 decision in eight innings in the opener at Pitt-Johnstown on Saturday afternoon. The Lakers bounced back with a 10-4 victory in game two to salvage a split with the Mountain Cats at Point Stadium. Mercyhurst moved to 16-8 overall and 8-4 in the PSAC West. Pitt-Johnstown moved to 11-16 overall and 6-6 in conference play.

Neither team could generate much offense in the opener against Altavilla for Mercyhurst and his counterpart, Derek Younker of Pitt-Johnstown. The Lakers scored their only run in the top of the second inning on a sacrifice fly by junior Angel Martinez, which scored junior Jake Marinelli who led off the inning with a single.

But, the Mountain Cats tied the game in the bottom half of the second inning against Altavilla, who saw his 22.1 scoreless inning streak come to an end. The junior, who had not allowed a run since the first inning against Bloomsburg on March 15, struck out both Matt McGhee and Nate Negri to start the inning. However, Negri reached first on a wild pitch and was driven home by Jake Stern on a double to left field to tie the contest at 1-1.

With the score deadlocked at 1-1 heading to extra innings, Younker remained in the game for the Mountain Cats and kept the Lakers scoreless in the eighth, leaving runners at second and third. Sophomore Jake Hall relieved Altavilla, who had thrown 113 pitches, in the bottom half of the eighth inning and the Mountain Cats scored the game-winner on an RBI single by Brett Marabito with two outs.

Altavilla received the no-decision, allowing one run on four hits. He walked four and struck out ten - his third consecutive start with at least ten strikeouts. Hall took the loss, falling to 1-1. He allowed the winning run on three hits in the eighth inning. Younker, meanwhile, went the distance for Pitt-Johnstown. He allowed one run on five hits and walked two while striking out two.

With momentum on its side, the hosts scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning of game two against redshirt junior Jon Klein to take a 2-0 advantage. But, the momentum quickly shifted when Mercyhurst answered with three runs in the top of the third and six more in the fourth to build a commanding 9-2 lead.

In the third, redshirt junior Ryan Siegel had a two-run triple to tie the game at 2-2. Sophomore Brendan Cox followed with an RBI single to give the Lakers their first lead of the afternoon.

Mercyhurst blew the game wide open in the fourth inning when it scored six runs on five hits and an error. Martinez gave the Lakers a 4-2 lead with a sacrifice fly to start the rally. Siegel and Cox followed with back-to-back two-run singles for an 8-2 lead and sophomore Dan Popio ended the scoring with an RBI single for a seven-run cushion.

Jake Stern led off the UPJ fourth with a solo home run and Matt McGhee drove in the Mountain Cats' fourth run with a run-scoring fielder's choice in the fifth. But, junior Giancarlo Saia finished the scoring in the Lakers' sixth inning with a sacrifice fly for the final margin.

Klein earned the complete-game win, allowing four runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out eight to even his record at 3-3. Nate Pope was saddled with the loss for UPJ, falling to 0-5 after allowing eight earned runs in three and two-thirds innings.

Siegel went 2-for-4 with four runs batted in. Cox chipped in with three RBI while going 2-for-3.

The teams will compete the season series on Sunday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Baseball Field. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.