DU BOIS, PA — Costly errors hurt the Houghton Highlanders in a pair of losses to the Penn State-DuBois Lions, falling in the first game, 15-6, and again in the second, 3-2.
GAME VITALS
Game 1 Score: Houghton – 6 | PSU-DuBois – 15
Game 2 Score: Houghton – 2 | PSU-DuBois – 3
Records: Houghton: 14-19 | PSU-DuBois: 28-4
Venue: Showers Field, Du Bois, PA | Attendance: 75
GAME ONE RECAP:
The Lions scored 11 unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings, overcoming a three-run deficit, to pick up a win in the opener.
Houghton took a 6-3 lead in the third when
James Nelson clobbered a mammoth homerun to lead off the inning, a fielder's choice plated another run, and
Derek Ebersole singled home two more.
After the Lions scored a single run in the third, a grand slam from Isaac Tiracorda put DuBois up, 8-6, and they never looked back, scoring four more that inning and another three in the following frame.
Nelson,
Nate Hall and
Danny Bratton all collected two hits apiece for the Highlanders.
GAME TWO RECAP:
An overthrow and a botched rundown scored two DuBois runs that gave them the win.
After a leadoff double by
Vincent Lucyszyn and a single from
Qingyang Feng gave the Highlanders an early one-run lead, the Lions tied the score in the third when Tanner Kephart stole third and the throw from the catcher sailed into left field.
The Lions pulled ahead in the fourth when a base hit to left scored the go ahead run, but resulted in two runners on second base. As the Highlanders forced the lead runner toward third, the subsequent throw sailed well over the third baseman's head and into dead-ball territory, giving DuBois a 3-1 lead.
Tobias Waldridge pulled the Highlanders back within a run in the top of the sixth with a base hit that scored
Christian Tortorici but could come no closer.
Houghton again put a runner on in the seventh but could not score.
He Zhang allowed only one earned run over 4.1 innings of work, striking out seven, while
Isaiah Wood tossed the final 1.2 scoreless innings.
UP NEXT:
The Highlanders will head to St. John Fisher this Friday for the opener of the final regular season conference series of the year. First pitch is slated for 4:00 p.m.
