BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg baseball team fell to Pitt-Johnstown, 11-8, in the opening game of its doubleheader before securing a 12-6 victory in game two at Danny Litwhiler Field on Friday afternoon. The maroon and gold's record advances to 7-7 while the Mountain Cats move to 5-9.
 
Four Huskies recorded multiple hits on the day, with Josh Wilson (Clinton, Md./Bishop McNamara) and Greg Cristino (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial) each going 4-for-8 at the plate. Wilson recorded a pair of solo home runs in the second game while Cristino led the team with two doubles and five RBIs. Brady Ebbert (Etters, Pa./Red Land) went 2-for-3 from the plate while drawing five walks. Jacob Reifer (Bloomsburg, Pa./Central Columbia Area) knocked back-to-back home runs in game two to contribute to his ten RBIs on the day.
 
Game One – Pitt-Johnstown 11, Bloomsburg 8
 
The Mountain Cats jumped ahead to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. An RBI-double brought in the first run of the day before a single up the middle in the subsequent at-bat brought two runners across home plate.
 
Ben Jones (Fallschurch, Va./George C. Marshall) brought the first Husky across the plate in the bottom of the frame, scoring Corey Daniels (Forest City, Pa./Forest City) on a fielder's choice.
 
Starting pitcher Daniel Koppisch (Philadelphia, Pa./Central) struck out six straight batters in a row in the second and third innings.
 
Daniels led off the bottom of the third and sent a home run over the left-centerfield wall to pull Bloomsburg within one. Cristino tied the game with a homer of his own, launching a solo shot over the trees in left field. An RBI-single from Anthony Trommer (Trevose, Pa./Neshaminy) on his first career hit put the Huskies up 4-3. A wild pitch then allowed Wilson to score the Huskies fifth run.  
 
UPJ regained the lead with five runs in the top of the fifth before advancing its lead to 11-5 in the top of the seventh with three more runs.
 
The bottom of the seventh saw the Huskies rally late, as Ebbert led off with a double down the rightfield line before advancing to third on the throw. Cristino brought Ebbert home on an RBI-groundout to the shortstop. Jones drew a walk before Wilson put runners in scoring position with a double. Reifer cleared the bases by launching a double deep down the leftfield line, pulling Bloomsburg within three. The Huskies was unable to capitalize on loaded bases as they fell, 11-8.
 
Daniel Koppisch (Philadelphia, Pa./Central) was pinned with the loss, giving up six runs and five hits while striking out seven batters. Overall, the Huskies pitching staff combined for 10 strikeouts.  
 
Game Two – Bloomsburg 12, Pitt-Johnstown 6
 
Pitt-Johnstown started the second game with back-to-back singles from Zac LeGars and Brody Roberts before the Huskies managed to record two outs. Erik Rhodes knocked a single to right field before Reifer fired in a throw to catcher Joe Levis (Fort Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin) at home who tagged LeGars at the plate for the third out.
 
After Ebbert drew a walked in the bottom of the first, Cristino brought Ebbert home from first on an RBI-double to left centerfield to put Bloomsburg ahead. Cristino advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt before scoring on an RBI-groundout by Jones. Wilson launched a solo home run over the trees to put the maroon and gold ahead 3-0.
 
Drew Balestrini (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) scored on a wild pitch in the fourth to advance the lead to 4-0.
 
The third inning saw Cristino score Ebbert from first on a double for the second time in as many at-bats. Cristino was immediately brought home on a two-run shot over the right-centerfield fence by Jones.
 
Cristino recorded his third RBI of the game in the fourth inning, singling through the right side to bring home Casey O'Brien (Moosic, Pa./Riverside) for the Huskies' eight run of the game.
 
UPJ brought the game within reach in the fifth, scoring six runs on seven hits.
 
Wilson and Reifer led off the bottom of the fifth with back-to-back home runs to left field, giving the Huskies a 10-6 lead. Balestrini scored for the second time in the game on a sacrifice-fly from Daniels.
 
Reifer posted the Huskies' 12th run of the contest in the sixth with his second home run of the game as the Huskies took the win, 12-6.
 
Riley Powers (Vidalia, Ga./Vidalia) picked up his third win off the season in 4.2 innings pitched while recording two strikeouts. Brock Hammaker (Lancaster, Pa./Donegal) posted a pair of strikeouts and allowed no hits in 2.1 innings of relief.
 
Bloomsburg heads to Pitt-Johnstown on Saturday, March 15 to close out the series with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.