Published: April 23, 2008 09:54 am         

Frostburg splits at Behrend

Victory locks up first-round bye

ERIE, Pa. - Frostburg State split a crucial Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference doubleheader with conference leader Penn State Behrend on Sunday. The Lions took the first game 4-2 and the Bobcats regrouped for a 7-2 victory in the second game.

The win gave the Bobcats a first-round bye in the AMCC playoffs.

In the first game, the two best pitching staffs in the AMCC surrendered a combined 19 hits, yet it was an error in the fourth inning that proved to be the deciding factor.

The Lions (23-7, 13-1) struck first as Dustin Dubensky scored on a Geoff Lang single to take an early 1-0 lead in the third inning.

In the fourth, Bobcat sophomore starter Joe Garrity would be charged with two unearned runs as Behrend went ahead 3-0. Ryan Liddle reached base on a single. Josh Fyffe followed by reaching base on a one-out error that would extend the inning.

FSU junior reliever Kyle Timme gave up the final run to Behrend in the fifth inning as Liddle doubled in Joe Breiter who had walked earlier in the inning.

In the second contest, FSU sophomore starter Freddy Foshay silenced the Lions' bats by spreading out just four hits in 5.2 innings to earn his fourth win.

The Bobcats took their first lead of the day as senior Andrew Lydon singled in Garrity for a 3-2 advantage in the fourth inning.

The final blow was delivered in the sixth inning as FSU plated four runs for the final five-run advantage. Peake scored the first run in the sixth off an Andrew Speights triple. Speights then scored on a wild pitch.

The final two runs came as sophomore Andrew Derr layed down a sacrifice bunt for an RBI and Clark singled home Lydon.

Junior reliever Gary Wolfe entered in the sixth inning with the bases loaded to shut down the final comeback attempt by Behrend.

Frostburg State concludes conference play Friday at Pitt-Greensburg for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.