Baseball earns first victory of the season

RUSSELLTON, Pa. – New Kensington baseball hosted Penn State Beaver on Saturday in a doubleheader contest. New Kensington fell shy, 8-5, in the first matchup, but earned its first victory of the season in the later game, 8-5. New Kensington is now 1-19 in the conference and 1-21 overall.

 Game 1

Beaver earned a 6-0 advantage over New Kensington and held it at zero until the bottom of the fourth.

Reise Matson (Kittanning, Pa./Armstrong) singled to center field and Jordan Witcher (District Heights, Md./Largo) came in to pinch run. Witcher stole second after Thomas Santiago Jr. (Jersey City, N.J./M.E.T.S. Charter) walked. Both players stole the next base off a fly out. Due to a Jared Busche (Pittsburgh, Pa./Gateway) single, Witcher and Santiago were able to run home. Right after, Max Oliveri (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) earned two RBI off a homer that sent himself and Busche home. New Kensington was close behind Beaver, 6-4.

During the fifth, Beaver only managed to get one hit. In the bottom of the inning, Tallon Auth (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) homered for New Kensington, and the team was only down by one, 6-5, moving into the sixth.

Beaver was able to bring in two runs during the inning off of four hits. New Kensington remained with five runs for the rest of the game, and Beaver came out on top, 8-5.

For New Kensington, Matson hit a perfect 4-for-4.

Game 2

Beaver took a short lived 1-0 lead over New Kensington heading into the second inning where New Kensington took control of the game.

Alex VanMeter (Fort Myers, Fla./Dunbar) made it to first off a single. He was able to progress to second off a ground out and then to third when Oliveri singled. Courtesy of Santiago singling, VanMeter scored. Branden Stipetich (Blawnox, Pa./Fox Chapel) earned himself three RBI off a homerun and put New Kensington ahead, 4-1, heading into the third.

During the fourth, Beaver ran in two and was only down by one. However, New Kensington used the bottom of the inning to run in another which made the score 5-3.

Oliveri tripled to center field, and a Santiago single sent him home.

New Kensington ran in one more in the following inning. Three back-to-back singles loaded the bases, and VanMeter was the one to score. New Kensington pushed its lead further, 6-3.

Throughout the sixth, Beaver had three hits and ran one player home. New Kensington kept its advantage and put up two more runs.

Mario Gomez (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J./Hasbrouck Heights) walked and headed to second when Auth was hit by the pitch. An AJ Collins (Penn Hills, Pa./Penn Hills) doubled allowed Gomez to score and Auth to advance to third. Off a fly out, Auth crossed home, and New Kensington was up, 8-4, with the seventh inning left to play.

A sacrifice fly helped Beaver score one in the seventh, but it wasn't enough to pass up New Kensington that earned its first win of the season, 8-5.

Oliveri led with three hits which included a triple and one RBI. Stipetich had three RBI from his homer, while Santiago earned two.

New Kensington will play another home contest on Tuesday, Apr. 27. It will take on Penn State Greater Allegheny at 4 p.m.

Written by Janet Surma