Pitt-Bradford baseball returned to action Tuesday for the first time in 10 days, splitting a non-conference series with Houghton. The Panthers dropped the opener 12-11 but prevailed 7-1 in the nightcap.
After falling behind in game one by scores of 4-1 and 7-4, the Panthers surged ahead in the top half of the sixth with three runs to take a 9-7 advantage.
Tyler Hoops and Brock Blovsky walked to lead off the inning and moved into scoring position on an error. Kyle Hunt scored Hoops with a RBI groundout, tying the game at seven, and the Highlanders walked Austin Parent and Dalton Renn to load the bases. Blovsky scored on a wild pitch, and moments later, Parent was awarded home after Houghton's John Kopicky was charged with a balk.
Houghton rallied for five runs in its half of the inning, including going ahead on a bases-clearing double to left field, chasing reliever Alex Andrzejewski, who had shutdown the Highlanders over the previous two innings.
Pitt-Bradford mounted a comeback in the seventh, scoring runs on RBI singles by Hoops and Parent, but Renn flied out to right field to end the game, leaving the tying run at second base.
Starter Justin Beimel lasted just 2.1 innings, issuing seven free passes en route to giving up seven runs. He allowed two hits and struck out one.
Pitt-Bradford finished with 10 hits, including two each by Parent and Jay Clinger. Tim Brown and Clinger each had two RBIs, and Parent scored three times.
Ryan Northcott allowed one run in seven innings and struck out a season-high 10 batters to lead the Panthers to a win in game two.
It did not come easy for Northcott though, as he surrendered five hits and walked six batters. He left the bases loaded in the third inning when a runner was cut down attempting to steal home, and he fanned the final hitter in the fifth and seventh to strand runners on base.
Renn opened the scoring with a run-scoring single in the first, and Parent doubled in another in the second. Tim Brown walked with the bases full in the third, and Renn scored one batter later on a double-play.
A Houghton error in the fourth pushed the Panthers' advantage to 5-0, and Hoops scored Brown with an infield single in the fifth. The Highlanders manufactured their only run in the same inning, and Renn capped the scoring with a RBI base hit in the sixth.
Pitt-Bradford totaled 10 hits in the victory, led by Hoops, who finished 3-3 with a RBI and run scored. Renn, Clinger and Blovsky each recorded two hits apiece, and Blovsky stole a base and scored twice.
Pitt-Bradford improves to 4-10 on the season and hosts Penn College Friday at 2 p.m. in its home opener.
