BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – A pair of rallies in both games led Mansfield (18-18, 10-7 PSAC) to two wins over Bloomsburg (21-16-1, 10-7-1 PSAC) in a baseball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Danny Litwhiler Field.
In the first game, the Mounties had a six-run second inning to lift them to a 9-1 win. Then in the second contest, Mansfield scored nine unanswered runs across three innings to pull out a high-scoring 18-14 ballgame.
For Bloomsburg, the team collected 17 hits in the second game to score its 14 runs. Nine different players accounted for those hits and nine of them went for extra bases, which included four home runs.
Kyle OFier (Pittston Township, Pa./Pittston Area) went 4-for-5 in the second game with one homer, three runs batted in and four runs scored.
Ben Newbert (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Harriton) homered twice as he went 3-for-5 with four runs batted in and two runs scored.
Carter Chasanov (Magnolia, Del./Polytech) hit the other home run of the game while
Anthony Viggiano (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) hit two doubles and scored three times.
Bryce Porter (Lincoln University, Pa./Perkiomen) knocked in two runs and scored once during his 2-for-5 game and
Jake Reed (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) was 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.
Jacob Reifer (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia Area) was 1-for-2 and scored once and
Adam Gates (Swedesboro, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) had a double and scored once.
The slugfest in Game 2 saw seven different lead changes as both teams continued to answer when it was their turn at the plate. The Huskies were the first team to come back from multiple scores when they scored a total of six runs in the second and third innings to go up 7-4. Mansfield then answered with a four-run inning in the fifth to take a one-run lead. Reed then tied things up at 8-8 on a squeeze play in the bottom of the fifth. After Mansfield regained the lead in the top of the sixth with a one-run single, Newbert and Chasanov hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom-half of the inning to put Bloomsburg back on top, 11-9.
Bloomsburg's two-run lead would be its final of the contest, however, as Mansfield went on to score nine runs across the next three innings to go up by eight. The Huskies pieced together a bit of a rally in the bottom of the ninth as OFier had an RBI single and Newbert hit a two-run homer, but a groundout ended the game.
The first game played out similarly in that a Mansfield rally was the difference maker, but there was only one lead change in the game and not quite as much offense. This time, the Mounties had a six-run second inning to go up 7-1 after two innings of play and their ace pitcher, Hunter DePrimo, limited the Huskies to one run on five hits as his team took a 9-1 win.
The second-inning rally got started with the lead-off hitter reaching first on an error and following an RBI single, another error during a play at the plate gave Mansfield a 3-0 lead. The Mounties then had four more hits in the inning that scored four more runs, all of which were unearned.
Offensively, Bloomsburg got their lone run in the bottom-half of the second inning on an RBI double by
Brandon Ernst (Limerick, Pa./Spring Ford). Chasanov scored on the play and led the team at the plate with his 2-for-4 game. OFier and Gates recorded the team's other hits.
DePrimo, who is Mansfield's all-time leader in strikeouts since he set the record on April 15, stuck out 10 hitters to pick up the win. Assaf Lowengart also had a day for the Mounties as he hit three home runs total in the doubleheader and finished with nine runs batted in.
Bloomsburg will gets it next opportunity to play next weekend, which is when they are scheduled to take on No. 15 Millersville (31-11, 13-5 PSAC) in a home-and-away series. The Marauders also lost three straight PSAC games over the weekend as got swept by West Chester (24-9, 12-6 PSAC) in their home-and-away series.
The Huskies' first game against the Marauders will be at Millersville on Friday, then Bloomsburg hosts Millersville for a doubleheader on Saturday.
