Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – The Tomcat baseball squad suffered an 8-4 loss Monday afternoon at Penn State Behrend.

The Lions (18-6-1) used four pitchers in the victory with Jory Okerlund earning the win. Okerlund entered in the fifth and went 1.0 inning, allowing one run on a pair of hits. Okerlund replaced starter Justin Wood, who went 4.1 innings and allowed one run on six hits with two strikeouts.

Matt Bittner went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, two RBI and a run in the victory.

Cody Northcott (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) suffered the loss for Thiel (11-14) after surrendering eight runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work. Mike Pica (Monessen, Pa./Monessen) worked 2.1 scoreless innings and recorded four strikeouts.

Weston Snyder (Cranesville, Pa./Northwestern) finished 3-for-5 with a RBI while Cody Trinch (Franklin, Pa./Franklin) and Dan Gainey (Girard, Ohio/Girard) each added a pair of hits.

With Behrend leading 4-1 after four innings Eric Steininger (West Leechburg, Pa./Leechburg) singled in Gainey in the fifth to get the Tomcats on the board. Trinch's RBI single in the sixth brought Thiel to within two, 4-2, before the Lions respond with four runs in the bottom of the frame to extend their lead to six, 8-2.

A Phil Double (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley) RBI double in the ninth, followed by Snyder's two-out run-scoring single, had Thiel back to within four, 8-4, but that would be as close as the Tomcats would get.

Thiel returns to Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play on Saturday, April 14 when it travels to Saint Vincent College. The doubleheader is slated to get underway at 1 p.m.