By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director
MONT ALTO, Pa. – The Penn State Mont Alto baseball team improved their overall record to 10-10 on Thursday afternoon with a dominant non-conference win over Christendom College. The Nittany Lions rolled past the Crusaders 12-2 in seven innings with Colin Osborne (Williamsport, Md. / Williamsport) earning the win on the mound.
PSUMA jumped on the Crusaders and got the bats going early, plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Brandt Swartz (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) singled through the right side and scored on a Nick Jacoby (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) liner that was misplayed by the Crusaders right fielder. Jacoby scored a batter later when Jeremiah Younker (Hagerstown, Pa. / Williamsport) doubled to right center field.
The Nittany Lions doubled their lead an inning later when Brandt Swartz drove in a pair when he sliced a double to left center field. Nick Jacoby (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) made it 7-1 in the bottom of the fourth when he rocketed a bases clearing triple off Crusader starting pitcher Ben Dunphy. Jacoby ended up scoring as well on a sacrifice fly from Jeremiah Younker (Hagerstown, Pa. / Williamsport) who now has 25 RBIs on the season.
Dunphy worked six innings for his team and was credited with giving up eight earned runs. PSUMA ended up scoring three more runs in the bottom of the seventh to mercy its opponent.
Osborne settled down on the bump after allowing a lead off walk, the junior gave up just one earned run on four hits in his five innings of work. He also struck out a season-high seven batters.
Junior Nick Jacoby (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) finished 2-for-3 with a season-high five RBIs. Fellow outfielder Brandt Swartz (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) made his first start of the season and went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a stolen base.
Mont Alto (10-10, 5-1 PSUAC) return to conference action tomorrow in a rescheduled road nine-inning contest with Penn State DuBois. The teams were originally slated to play on Sunday but the game was moved due to pending weather. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m.
