JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (March 24) – The Vulcans opened Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play on Friday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep against Pitt-Johnstown at Point Stadium, winning 13-9 and 12-9.
 
With the sweep, the California University of Pennsylvania baseball team improves to 6-8 this season and open divisional play with a 2-0 mark. Meanwhile, Pitt-Johnstown falls to 10-12 overall with a 0-2 record in league action.
 
In Game 1, the Vulcans scored five runs in the top of the seventh after the Mountain Cats tied the game with five runs in the bottom of the sixth to earn the 13-9 victory. Senior first baseman David Marcus (Whitby, Ontario/Father Leo J. Austin) went 4-of-4 with a homer, two RBI and four runs scored, while sophomore catcher Kristian Webb (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) tallied a consecutive multi-hit game by going 3-of-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Junior shortstop Austin Logan (Beaver, Pa./Beaver) went 2-of-5 and three RBI in the win.
 
Cal U opened the scoring in the top of the first when Marcus and junior right fielder Chris Wastchak (Peters Twp.,Pa,/Peters Twp.) hit consecutive doubles with two outs to give the Vulcans a 1-0 lead. UPJ countered with one run in the bottom of the inning after the first four batters reached base. The Vulcans scored five runs on four hits in the top of the third to take a 6-1 lead. Cal U loaded the bases and scored its first run off a Wastchak hit by pitch followed by a RBI single from Webb that moved everyone up one base. After sophomore left fielder Eric Fairman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) drew a bases-loaded walk to plate the fourth run of the inning, Logan capped the inning with a two-run single as the seventh-consecutive Vulcan to reach base that inning.
 
After UPJ scored two runs in the bottom of the third, the Vulcans tallied two runs in the top of the sixth on a two-run single from Webb to make the score 8-3. The Mountain Cats then scored five runs on six hits with two outs to tie the game at 8-8 in the bottom of the sixth. In the top of the seventh, Cal U retook the lead on a single from senior Joe Yourgal (Millersville, Pa./Lancaster Catholic) and extended the lead two batters later when junior third baseman Levi Krause (East Berlin, Pa./Spring Grove) doubled to score Yourgal. Marcus followed with a two-run home run and Logan would tally the inning's final run with a two-out single. Yourgal earned his first win of the season after allowing one run on two hits 1.1 innings of relief.
 
In Game 2, the Vulcan offense picked right up where it left off in the last game with three first-inning runs. After junior second baseman Garrett Brooks (Connellsville, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) began the inning by reaching on an error, Marcus walked to set up Wastchak to drive him home on a double. Webb registered a sacrifice fly and Fairman followed the next at-bat with a two-out RBI single. The Mountain Cats rallied for four runs on four hits in the bottom of the second to take a 4-3 lead before the Vulcans scored runs in the third and fourth innings to retake the lead at 5-4. UPJ followed by scoring five runs over the bottom of the fourth and fifth to take its largest lead of the game at 9-5. In the top of the sixth, the Vulcans started their rally with two runs to make it 9-7 after a RBI single from Brooks and a RBI double from Krause.
 
Cal U surged ahead with five runs in the top of the seventh to take a 12-9 lead. Webb starting the inning with a single and Logan reached base on a hit by pitch after Fairman hit into a fielder's choice. A passed ball moved the runners up a base and junior Andrew Grace (Moon Twp.,Pa./Moon) tied the game on the following at-bat with a two-run single. Grace then was thrown out at home trying to score from second after a single for the second out of the inning. Brooks drew a walk on the next at-bat and Krause followed with a go-ahead, three-run homer to complete the inning.
 
Freshman Jason Downs (Albion, N.Y./Charles D'Amico) picked up his first collegiate win after throwing 2.1 shutout innings to close the game, while allowing no hits and issuing two walks. Meanwhile, Mountain Cat pitcher Shane Supanick was saddled with the loss after giving up three runs on two hits in just 0.2 innings of work.
 
Krause led the Vulcans at the plate in Game 2 by going 2-of-5 with four RBI and Brooks tallied a pair of RBI and runs scored.
 
Cal U continues its weekend series with UPJ tomorrow, Saturday, March 25, with a doubleheader in Washington, Pennsylvania, at 1 p.m.