Baseball Drops Doubleheader to Catholic

HUNTINGDON, PA – On a brisk Saturday afternoon, the Juniata baseball team (8-24, 2-18 Landmark) lost a conference doubleheader to Catholic University (21-11-1, 11-9 Landmark).

Catholic won game one, 12-2, and game two, 14-4.

In game one, the Cardinals took a two-run lead in the first. Jacob Terry (Denver, PA / Cocalico HS)  hit a leadoff double for Juniata in the bottom half of the inning. Chris Schreder (Litiz, PA / Lancaster Catholic) flied out to left, allowing Terry to advance to third. Anthony Lombardo (Altoona, PA / Altoona Area) hit an RBI-single up the middle and the Eagles were down by one after the first.

The Cardinals added three more runs in the top of the second. Now down 1-5, Juniata pushed to get their offense going. 

In the bottom of the second, Nick Stubbs (Hagerstown, MD / South Hagerstown) was caught stealing second but Joe Klusman (Wilmington, DE / St. Elizabeth HS) was able to score from third.

The Catholic defense would stifle Juniata the rest of the game to help the Cardinals take game one 12-2. 

Jesse Beeler (Greencastle, PA / Greencastle-Antrim) was the starting pitcher for the Eagles. Beeler threw five innings, gave up 14 hits, 12 runs, walked one batter and struck out two. Chris Sinisi (Altoona, PA / Altoona Area) relieved Beeler in the sixth and tossed two innings, gave up zero hits and struck out two batters.

The Eagles got on the board first in game two. 

Terry hit a leadoff single to third and advanced to second on a Schreder groundout. Terry advanced to third on a passed ball. Terry was later thrown out at first, a fielder's choice that allowed Lombardo to reach first. Brady Cotler (Chadds Ford, PA / Salesianum) singled through the left side and Lombardo moved to second. Cody Krepps (Tyrone, PA / Bellwood-Antis) singled and Lombardo capitalized on an error by the Cardinals to score an unearned run. Klusman then hit an RBI-double that brought in Brady for an unearned run. Krepps was tagged out by the third baseman on the play and would leave the game with a lower-body injury. 

The Cardinals put up runs in each of the remaining six innings of the game.

The final two runs for Juniata came in the bottom half of the third. Catholic record two quick outs but the Eagles rallied to get on base. Cotler doubled to left center to get the offense started. Nick Mistretta (South Williamsport, PA / South Williamsport) came to the plate as a designated hitter for Krepps. Mistretta singled to right and Cotler advanced to third. Klusman hit an RBI-single to center to bring in Cotler and advance Mistretta to second. Sinisi hit an RBI-single to left to bring in Mistretta. Two runners would be left on base as Catholic got their final out.

Catholic went on to win by a final of 14-4. 

The Eagles and Cardinals face off in the final game of the series on Sunday, April 26 at the Langdon-Goodale Field at 12:00pm. Sunday's game is also Senior Day for Juniata.