HOUGHTON, N.Y. – The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford baseball team split a doubleheader at Houghton College on Tuesday afternoon.
The Panthers dropped the opener 5-2, but got right back on track with a thrilling come from behind, 6-5 victory, in the nightcap.
Kevin Sompel led the Panther's offense in game two, going 2-3 with a two RBI triple. Brody Wood added two hits and an RBI while Pat James and Jean Turber drove in one run each and Austin Parent chipped in with two hits in the game two victory.
Ryan Boyer went the distance, striking out three while allowing four earned runs on eight hits to pick up his first collegiate victory.
Houghton got out to a quick start in the nightcap, taking a 4-0 lead into the sixth.
Pitt-Bradford's offense erupted for a five-run sixth inning to take a 5-4 lead. James started the rally by legging out an RBI single to third base while Parent scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Keagen Goodliff, who really changed the inning with a 12-pitch at bat to give the Panthers all the momentum. Wood then added another RBI infield single to the shortstop and Sompel crushed a two-run triple to cap the big sixth inning.
Turber extended the Panther lead to 6-4 with an RBI groundout to shortstop in the top of the seventh. Houghton answered with one of their own, but couldn't come all the way back as the Panthers hung on for the 6-5 victory in the finale.
Despite dropping the opener, the Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Tim Brown, Dalton Renn and Sompel drew three straight walks to load the bases. Brown then scored on a balk and the Panthers second run of the inning came when Jacob Rivers drew a bases loaded walk.
Houghton answered with two of their own in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 2-2, before adding two more in the bottom of the fourth to take a 4-2 lead. The Highlanders added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth to complete the 5-2 victory.
With the split, Pitt-Bradford is now 4-8 on the season. Houghton heads into their next series at 9-9.
The Panthers return to action Saturday afternoon for a doubleheader at Penn College at one.
