The Penn State Wilkes-Barre baseball team played at their home field on Sunday, Apr. 7 in a double header against Penn State Scranton.
Game 1
In the bottom of the first, #4 sophomore Enai Fernandez got the ball rolling with a hit to center field, making it to second base. When #6 freshman Jay Shemanski went up to bat, he sent the ball flying to the fence in center field, bringing Fernandez home and settling on second.
After #24 freshman Jakob Baltrusaitis got walked, #9 sophomore Walter Ninotti stepped up to the plate and hit a fly ball between center and left field, bringing Baltrusaitis and Shemanski home.
#21 freshman Chris Coyne was on the mound and made quick work of the batters on Scranton's team. In the three batters he faced, he struck all of them out.
At the top of the third, the first out came from #26 senior Joey Polanowski, who scooped up a grounder and threw it to #20 freshman Kevin Rivera at first base. Enai Fernandez completed the second out with a grounder hit his way, throwing to first before the runner stepped on the bag.
The final out of the inning came from Walter Ninotti, who caught a fly ball in center field after following it in the wind. The score at the end of the inning was close, with Wilkes-Barre leading at 3-2.
It was a four-pitch inning after an unsuccessful at-bat for Wilkes-Barre's Mountain Lions. After Kevin Rivera caught a pop fly in front of first base, it was followed with a ground ball to Joey Polanowski, throwing the ball to Rivera, who caught it stretching from the base. The last ball was caught by Jakob Baltrusaitis after he caught a fly ball in center field.
In the bottom of the fourth, Jakob Baltrusaitis hit another powerhouse of a ball that made it to left field's part of the fence, making it to second base. Baltrusaitis also successfully stole to third base on an overthrow by Scranton.
When #10 freshman Travis Jones got walked, it worked in favor of the Mountain Lions. Jones stopped in between first and second in an attempt to steal, causing confusion amongst Scranton players. It allowed Baltrusaitis to sprint home, gaining a run after the umpire called an obstruction on Scranton's catcher, and Jones to make it safely to second.
The fifth inning's outs started with a throw down to second by #11 sophomore Andrew Mentzer, where Enai Fernandez caught the ball and tagged the runner out. Chris Coyne struck out another runner, and was then switched out for #12 freshman Michael Volker. With Scranton up to bat, one of their players hit the ball out to right field, where it was caught by Jay Shemanski.
The bottom of the fifth was full of action, Enai Fernandez getting to second base. Jay Shemanski appeared to make a home run, bringing Fernandez home. Ultimately, the umpire called Shemanski's run incomplete.
The top of the sixth inning brought Scranton to a tie with the Mountain Lions at 5-5. Even though Wilkes-Barre got the outs efficiently, the score was still 6-5 Scranton when they went in to bat.
No runs were made in the bottom of the sixth, and the top of the seventh was a long inning for the Mountain Lions. Jay Shemanski caught a ball in right field to start gaining outs. Enai Fernandez got a ground ball and made the throw to first for the second. The last out was made by Jakob Baltrusaitis in a caught ball in the outfield.
In the last at-bat for the Mountain Lions, Andrew Mentzer made it on base and was promptly brought home by Joey Polanowski, who hit a fly ball to center field. Jakob Baltrusaitis finished off the runs with a home run that hit the scoreboard.
The final score was 11-9 Scranton. Scorers were Enai Fernandez, Andrew Mentzer, Joey Polanowski, and Walter Ninotti with one, Jay Shemanski with two, and Jakob Baltrusaitis with three.
Game Two
#13 freshman Zachary Chamberlain pitched the first inning of the second game, striking the first batter out. The next two outs came from a double play after Enai Fernandez got a ground ball and touched second for one out, then threw the ball to #5 freshman Ethan Bechel at first, who made the last out of the inning.
Fernandez made it to first in the bottom of the first after making a successful hit. Andrew Mentzer hit a rolling bunt, getting out at first, but advancing Enai to second. After Jay Shemanski hit a ball to left field, Enai Fernandez say the opportunity and ran home for the run.
Michael Volker got the first out at the top of the second by calling off one of his teammates and catching the ball in right field. Zachary Chamberlain struck out a batter, and Joey Polanowski got the last out at second on a throw down by Andrew Mentzer.
No runs were made at the bottom of the inning and getting the outs in the top of the third proved to be difficult for Wilkes-Barre. Travis Jones made the first after catching a fly ball in left field. Jakob Baltrusaitis caught a fly ball in center, and Polanowski got a ball to Enai Fernandez at second for the third out.
In the bottom of the third, Jay Shemanski got another home run for the Mountain Lions, their only run in the inning. The top of the fourth was busy for #2 Lucas Stachowiak, who made all three outs by catching pop flies in left field.
The last of the innings for the Mountain Lions were largely uneventful, getting overpowered by Scranton. The final score was 17-2 Scranton. Scorers were Enai Fernandez and Jay Semanski each with one.
Written by Kyler Burke