HAMBURG, NY - Hilbert College Baseball earned a hard-fought 4–2 victory over Penn State Behrend on Friday afternoon in Hamburg. The Hawks combined a dominant complete-game performance on the mound from
Gregory Lowry with timely offense late to improve to 4-1 in AMCC play.
After a scoreless first, Hilbert opened the scoring in the second inning.
Jude Khoury and
Alex Ellison set the table before
Harley Hoag delivered a run-scoring double to right field, plating Ellison for a 1–0 advantage. Lowry struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 bottom half of the frame to deny an instant response.
Lowry and Behrend starter Jake Manendo traded zeroes across the next two innings, before the Lions responded in the fifth, stringing together hits to produce two runs and briefly take a 2–1 lead.
However, the Hawks had an answer in the top of the seventh to regain control of the conference matchup. After Lowry struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth, the Hilbert offense produced a two-out rally to take the lead.
Reed Lesmeister used a hit by pitch and passed ball to find himself on second base for
Joey Haynes, who ripped a single into center to score Lesmeister and tie the game. The biggest hit of the game immediately followed, as
Patrick Evans' opposite field two-run home run made it 4-2 to give the Hawks their biggest lead of the afternoon.
From there, Hilbert, led by Lowry, controlled the remainder of the contest. The senior right hander allowed just one hit the rest of the way, while striking out three Lions over the final three frames of his complete game to close out the 4-2 victory.
Across nine innings, Lowry allowed eight hits and two runs while striking out eleven and allowing no walks.
At the plate, Haynes paced the Hawks with three hits and an RBI, while Evans drove in two with the go-ahead home run. Hoag added an RBI double, and Hilbert finished with nine hits while committing no defensive errors.
UP NEXT:
The Hawks and Lions return to Frontier High School tomorrow afternoon for an AMCC doubleheader beginning at 12 pm.
