Game one
On Friday, Mar. 22, the Penn State Wilkes-Barre baseball team traveled to Penn State Hazleton for double header games at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Game one started with home at bat, but the Mountain Lions struggled to make contact with the ball. #20 freshman Kevin Rivera started on the mound for Wilkes-Barre and would stay there for the entirety of the game, throwing 84 pitches in total. Hazleton was up 1-0 in the bottom of the first.
The bottom of the second showed excellent Wilkes-Barre defense, starting with a hit to Rivera, who threw the runner out at first. #6 freshman Jay Shemanski, who was on first base, caught at ball at the foul line with right field backing him up. #26 senior Joey Polanowski, playing short stop, got the last out after scooping the ball and making the throw to first.
The Mountain Lions scored their runs at the top of the third, beginning with #9 sophomore Walter Ninotti and #11 sophomore Andrew Mentzer making it on base. #24 freshman Jakob Baltrusaitis brought in both Ninotti and Mentzer after he made contact, the ground ball getting him to first base.
#4 sophomore Enai Fernandez was the last to bring in a run after tagging up and running full-speed to home plate. The score was 3-1 Wilkes-Barre.
In the bottom of the fourth, Joey Polanowski threw his captured grounder to Jay Shemanski for the first out. Walter Ninotti caught a fly ball on the run in left field, claiming the second out. By the end of Hazleton's at bat, Wilkes-Barre was still one run ahead with a score of 3-2.
The fourth inning had a textbook double-play with Polanowski getting the out at second and throwing the ball to Shemanski for another. Although the Mountain Lions did not get any runs in the top of the fifth, batters made it on base.
After an error by Hazleton at first, Enai Fernandez advanced to second on a steal. Jakob Baltrusaitis made contact, safe at first. Fernandez got stuck in a rundown between second and third base.
Wilkes-Barre allowed just one run at the bottom of the fifth, with Kevin Rivera getting the ball at the mound and throwing to first. Walter Ninotti caught his second pop fly in left field, securing the second out. Rivera struck out the last batter. The score was tied up at 3-3.
Outs in the final inning of the game started with Jay Shemanski running up first base line and diving to tag the runner out. Joey Polanowski got a grounder at short stop, throwing to first for the second out. Jakob Baltrusaitis got the final out by catching a pop fly in center field.
The final score was 4-3 Hazleton. Scorers were Walter Ninotti, Andrew Mentzer and Enai Fernandez each with one.
Game two
The second game of the day proved Mountain Lion tenacity, the cold and wind proving a challenge on the field. At the top of the first, Andrew Mentzer made a nice line drive between right and center field, making it to first base.
#12 freshman Michael Volker made the first out with a caught fly ball in right field. #5 freshman Ethan Bechel scooped a ball near first and made it to the base before the runner. Enai Fernandez made the last out of the inning when he caught a line drive at second base.
Although there were no runs at the top of the second, Wilkes-Barre would make up for it with quick outs in the bottom. Jakob Baltrusaitis caught a fly ball in far center field, starting things off. Baltrusaitis got a second ball in center, easily making the second out. #13 freshman Zachary Chamberlain, who was pitcher of the second game, made the final out after throwing the ball to Ethan Bechel at first.
Wilkes-Barre scored their two runs in the fourth, both Joey Polanowski and Jay Shemanski making it on base after being walked. Both players advanced another base after stealing. Shemanski scored the first run after Michael Volker's at bat, who subsequently made it to first base.
The second run was brought in after an error by Hazleton at second, Joey Polanowski eating up ground and stepping on home plate. After their two runs, the score was 4-2 Hazleton.
Zachary Chamberlain got the first out in the bottom of the fourth by striking out a Hazleton player. He then got a grounder at the mound and threw the runner out at first for the second out. The final out was caught by Jakob Baltrusaitis in center field near the warning track near the back end of the field by the fence.
The cold won out in the last inning, making in hard for Wilkes-Barre to effectively make their plays. The final score was 12-2 Hazleton. Points scorers were Joey Polanowski with one and Jay Shemanski with one.
The Mountain Lions play their next double header at Penn State Brandywine on Thursday, Mar. 28 at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Written by Kyler Burke