BOX SCORE (Game One)
BOX SCORE (Game Two)

Ft. Pierce, Fla. (Mar. 6, 2011) - Alvernia University (1-1) opened their 2011 baseball campaign under cloudy skies in Ft. Pierce and split their opening series with Penn State Behrend. Alvernia started slow in game one falling by a final of 4-0, but quickly found their stride in game two, winning 12-2.

In game one, the Crusaders threatened early when leadoff hitter and right fielder Brian Witkowski walked, then advanced to second on a single by senior Tim Ahlquist. After a sacrifice bunt by sophomore third baseman Chris Ray, the Crusaders had two men in scoring postion with one out but were unable to capitalize.

The Crusaders put five runners in scoring position throughout the seven inning ball game, but failed to push one across againt Penn State starter Ryan Jacobs who went the distance for the Nittany Lions. Senior Reid Martin was the only Crusader with multiple hits, shooting two balls through the left side of the infield. The only hit besides Martin's two and Ahlquist's single in the first inning was a double over the center fielder's head by Nole Saylor.

Senior pitcher Chuck Nicholas toed the rubber for the Crusaders in the opener striking out seven in the first three innings and did not allow a hit until the third batter of the fourth inning. The Nittany Lions had runners at second and third with one out until Ahlquist grabbed a line drive up the middle and flipped it to second to complete the inning ending double play.

The Nittany Lions scored the first run of the game in bottom half of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly to right field before Nicholas was able to retire the side. Penn State Behrend added three more runs in the sixth with two of the runs being charged to Nicholas and one to relief pitcher Mike Orban. The Crusaders had only one baserunner in the last three innings before going down in order to finish the game.

In game two, Alvernia got a solid outing by junior pitcher Andrew Kirk who struck out seven through six innings while scattering six hits and allowing only one Nittany Lion run to earn the win. The first inning saw each pitcher face the minimum until Penn State Behrend pushed across a run without recording a hit.

In the bottom half of the second, the Crusaders opened up the scoring by getting their first runs of the season off via a 2-run home run off the bat of Nole Saylor. The Crusaders added two more runs in the second after pitcher Shane Stauffer walked in a run and gave up an RBI single to Ray.

Penn State threatened in the third with the bases loaded, but was shut down after a Kirk strikeout. In the bottom half of the third, the Crusaders rallied with two outs ignited after a hit by pitch followed by a triple off the bat of sophomore first baseman Steve Medvidik. After sophomore Leon Stimpson was hit by a pitch, freshman Mike Weinhold pinch hit for Witkowski and stroked a double in the gap scoring Medvidik and Stimpson giving the Crusaders a 7-1 lead.

Ray drove in two more runs for the Crusaders in the fifth with a double over the centerfielder's head. In the sixth, Alvernia drove in three runs on the RBI singles.

Senior Austin Rohrbach took over for Kirk in the seventh, giving up one run while striking out two leading to a final score of 12-2.

The Crusaders are back in action Monday at 12:00pm when they take on Muhlenberg in a doubleheader in Vero Beach, Fla.

Game One - PSU-Behrend 4, Alvernia 0
Game Two - Alvernia 12, PSU-Behrend 2