Baseball Drops Two At CCAC

MONROEVILLE, Pa. - New Kensington baseball fell to Community College of Allegheny County in both games of their doubleheader Tuesday afternoon. The men dropped to 4-9 on the year.

A strong hitting and pitching performance from Penn State New Kensington in the early innings of Tuesday's game allowed them to score three runs in the top of the second to put themselves ahead by two. CCAC returned fire in the bottom of the third with nine runs followed by three more in the fourth to New Kensington's one. CCAC would score the final run of the game in the bottom of the fifth to finish with the 14-4 win.

New Kensington started game two with a deficit of five runs and was unable to score until the top of the fourth. By the time New Kensington put together a solid offensive inning, CCAC was already up by 10. The men ran across twice in the top of the fifth but could not catch up. CCAC finished with the 11-3 win.

Game 1

Freshman James Auberzinsky (Munhall, Pa. / Steel Valley) got the start for New Kensington, throwing 2.1 innings and giving up five runs on three hits. He walked six and struck out one. Remy Monteleone (Mars, Pa. / Mars) replaced Auberzinsky going 0.2 innings and allowing five runs on six hits, walking one. Alex VanMeter (Fort Myers, Fla. / Dunbar) entered the game and threw 1.2 innings. VanMeter gave up four runs on five hits, walking two and striking out one.

CCAC singled to right field in the first to drive in the first run of the game. New Kensington managed a solid offensive performance in the top of the second beginning with a Max Oliveri (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Penn Hills) fly ball to right field that drove in Eric Sonntag (Philadelphia, Pa. / Hatboro-Horsham). Zack Woolheater (Munhall, Pa. / Steel Valley) singled a line drive to left field that brought home Braden Tristani (Sarver, Pa. / Knoch) and Tallon Auth continued his key contributions doubling on a line drive up the middle to bring Woolheater across the plate.

CCAC came into the bottom of the third and was walked into scoring position. A grounder to left field drove in their ninth run of the inning, putting them ahead by seven. New Kensington scored their final points of the game when Auth managed a fly ball to center field that drove in Tristani. CCAC would go on to score twice more in the fourth. A sacrifice fly to left field would give them the inevitable 14-4 victory.

Game 2

Ethan Brunson (Webberville, Mich. / Webberville) took the mound for New Kensington in game two. The freshman threw 0.2 innings and gave up five runs on one hit. Brunson walked six and struck out two. He was soon replaced with AJ Collins who went 2.0 innings and was charged with four runs on four hits, walking one and striking out two. Eric Sonntag came in for Collins, throwing 1.1 innings and allowing two runs on two hits. He also walked one and struck out two. Mario Gomez (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. / Hasbrouck Heights) had the most impressive performance out of the pen throwing two fast and scoreless innings only walking one batter.

The first five runs for CCAC came off of walks while bases were loaded. In the bottom of the third, CCAC put on more pressure with a series of line drives to take a nine-point lead. New Kensington responded one inning later with a Tim Morris (Plum, Pa. / Plum) line drive to left field to drive home VanMeter.

New Kensington ran across again in the top of the fifth on a Reise Matson (Kittanning, Pa. / Armstrong) double to right field for Auth to score. Matson scored the final run of the game when Dale Egenlauf (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Brashear) was walked. CCAC's momentum allowed them to finish with the 11-3 win.

"I think the biggest thing is just jumping on the fastball," said Mario Gomez. "We don't want to get into a one-two count where the pitcher can throw us an offspeed. So if you just jump on the fastball good things will happen."

New Kensington will take on Penn State Du Bois in a two-day series starting on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

Written by Matt Heavner, PSNK Athletics Communications Intern