BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg baseball team capped off its 2024 campaign by splitting its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) doubleheader with Mansfield on Friday afternoon.
 
The Huskies tallied 20 hits across the twin bill, including 14 in their game two victory. Six different Huskies recorded multiple hits on the day.
 
Game One – Mansfield 2, Bloomsburg 1
 
Bloomsburg (16-32, 11-21 PSAC East) found itself in a defensive showcase to start the doubleheader, being held hitless through 2.2 innings to start the game.
 
Mansfield (15-31, 8-24) cracked the scoring open on an RBI-single straight back to the pitcher from Ryan Scott.
 
The Mountaineers held off the Huskies' best efforts until the top of the sixth when Eli Riley (Harrisburg, Pa./Mercersburg Academy) led off the inning with a solo home run to right-centerfield.
 
Mansfield immediately responded to retake the lead in the bottom of the frame on an RBI-double.
 
The top of the seventh saw the first two batters for the maroon and gold immediately go down swinging before loading the bases for the PSAC's top hitter, Wyatt Metzger (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove Area). Metzger lined a ball to the third baseman who was able to beat Jacob Reifer (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia Area) to the bag for the final out of the contest.
 
Will Dean (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville Area) struck out six in his fourth complete game of the season.
 
Game Two – Bloomsburg 9, Mansfield 6
 
An RBI-single from Mansfield in the first opened up what proved to be a high scoring contest than the first.
 
Bloomsburg tied the game in the second as Dansby Keenan (Cleveland Heights, Oh./Benedictine) laid down a sacrifice-bunt to score Jonathan LaBarbera (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest).
 
The third inning saw Metzger put the Huskies ahead as he sent his 14th home run of the season over the left-centerfield wall. The senior first baseman's two-run shot moved him into a tie for fourth all-time on the Huskies home run leaderboard. Metzger is also tied fourth in the single-season home run leaderboard with 14.
 
An RBI-groundout to shortstop from Brady Ebbert (Etters, Pa./Red Land) to score Joe Levis (Fort Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin) extended the Bloomsburg lead to three.
 
Mansfield closed the gap in the bottom of the inning on an RBI-fielder's choice.
 
The fifth inning saw the Huskies post a pair of runs before the Mountaineers scored another run on a fielder's choice.
 
Two RBI-singles in the sixth helped garner for the momentum for Riley to notch his second home run of the day in the seventh, putting Bloomsburg up 9-3.
 
The Mounties plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh before its comeback attempt fell short as Bloomsburg won its final game of the year.
 
Scot Gilbert allowed just two hits and one run in two innings pitched in the start while Daniel Koppisch (Philadelphia, Pa./Central) got the win and struck out two batters.
 
Riley went four-for-eight on the day with a pair of home runs and three RBIs. Metzger went three-for-eight in the double header with three runs and two RBIs.
 
Reifer went three-for-six on the day while LaBarbera went three-for-four in game two.
 
The Huskies 3-1 series victory over the Mountaineers concludes the 2024 season with the maroon and gold as they finish sixth in the PSAC Eastern Division.