By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director
MONT ALTO, Pa. – Penn State Mont Alto took full advantage of a six-run bottom of the first inning and posted a 9-1 triumph over Penn State Greater Allegheny during the opening round of the Penn State University Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
Mont Alto, the winners of the PSUAC Tournament in 2017, trailed 1-0 after PSUGA scored the opening run of the game in the top of the first inning on a Dylan Ernst RBI single. The Nittany Lions offense would then respond for six runs, all of which were earned in the bottom half of the frame. Hunter Martin (Hagerstown, Md. / North Hagerstown) was the first to break through, plating a pair of runs on a hard hit single that squirted through the left side of the infield. The very next batter in AJ Millar (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin) also sent an RBI double to the deep part of the PSUMA outfield building a 3-0 lead. Three more runs were scored when Chance McClure (Chambersburg, Pa. / Chambersburg Area) hit a bases clearing double.
This was all the scoring senior Jeremiah Younker (Hagerstown, Md. / Williamsport) needed on the mound as he limited Greater Allegheny to six hits and the first inning run was their lone of the ball game. He also managed eight strikeouts earning his fifth win of the season. He also went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with a double and triple.
Younker got into the scoring action for Mont Alto with his triple in which plated his 42nd RBI of the season and gave Mont Alto the 7-1 lead. Another run within the third inning was scored when Younker came home on a Chayse Fisher (Mercersburg, Pa. / James Buchanan) single to center field.
The Lions added the final tally of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning when McClure drove in Caleb Leggett (Williamsport, Md. / Williamsport) on a sacrifice fly. Eight of the nine starters for Mont Alto managed a hit with the team totaling 13 knocks.
Mont Alto (25-16) moves onto the double elimination part of the PSUAC Tournament with the semifinal and championship rounds taking place at Showers Field in DuBois, Pa. on May 5-6. PSUMA will face the top seed from the East Division, Penn State Wilkes-Barre at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 5.
