KEUKA PARK, N.Y. — The Keuka College Baseball team closed the 2018 regular season with a North Eastern Athletic Conference doubleheader split against Penn St.-Berks on Parents' and Senior Day at Kuhl Field.
For the second day in a row, Keuka College (18-15, 11-6 NEAC) won game one 5-4 on a ninth inning walkoff. The Wolves fell in game two by the score of 8-1.
Keuka College 5 vs. Penn St.-Berks 4 – 9 innings
The Nittany Lions took advantage of early walks and plated three runs against the Wolves in the top of the first. Keuka College responded in the bottom of the frame. Tyler Krowiak (Endwell, N.Y. / Seton Catholic) singled through the left side of the infield to score Dakota Skinner (Waverly, N.Y. / Tioga). Tyler Freedman (Rochester, N.Y. / Aquinas) then worked a bases-loaded walk to score a run and cut the Berks lead to one at 3-2.
Keuka College took the lead in the third inning. Dan Bamann (Rochester, N.Y. / Irondequoit) led the inning off with a single to center and Tyler Krowiak followed that with an infield single to have a pair of runners on. Following a wild pitch to advance the runners, Bamann scored on an error to tie the game. Alec Bowie (Sparta, N.J. / Sparta) gave the Wolves a 4-3 lead with a sacrifice fly to score Krowiak.
Penn St.-Berks tied the game with a run in the fifth inning. The game would remain tied and go to extra innings.
In the ninth inning, Sean Sheets (Manchester, N.Y. / Red Jacket) hit a double off the left centerfield fence. He moved to third on a wild pitch and scored the game-winning run on a walkoff single by Alec Bowie to give the Wolves a 5-4 victory.
Lead Wolves: The Keuka College pitching staff did an excellent job against the conference's top team. Starter Ryan Lawrence (Rochester, N.Y. / Brighton) allowed just one earned run in four innings. Relievers Josh Wang (Rochester, N.Y. / Rush-Henrietta), Dave Verrett (Cicero, N.Y. / Cicero-North Syracuse), and Kevin Franz (Vestal, N.Y. / Vestal) allowed just one hit apiece while combining for five shutout innings.
Penn St.-Berks 8 at Keuka College 1
Keuka College struck first in game two. Dakota Skinner singled and eventually scored on an RBI single down the right field line by Brooks Vertoske (Horseheads, N.Y. / Horseheads) to make it 1-0 Wolves.
That lead held until the fourth inning when Penn St.-Berks plated a pair of runs to take a 2-1 lead over the Wolves. The Nittany Lions added to their lead in the fifth inning, scoring four runs to build a 6-1 advantage. Penn St.-Berks added two more runs in the seventh on their way to the 8-1 victory.
Lead Wolf: The first inning single by Dakota Skinner was the 120th hit of his career, passing Dominick Dashnaw '07 for seventh most in program history.
KC Notes:
- The all-time series with Penn St.-Berks remains tied at 15-15
- Keuka College holds a 15-12 advantage in NEAC regular season games against the Nittany Lions
- It was the fourth time in the 30-game series that Keuka College and Penn St.-Berks played to extra innings. The Wolves are 3-1 in those games
- Keuka College played in extra-inning games in back-to-back games. The Wolves are 5-1 this season in extra-inning games
- 18 wins by Keuka this season is the second-most in program history
- Keuka College's 11 North Eastern Athletic Conference victories is also second-most in program history
- John Rizzo (Auburn, N.Y. / Auburn) moved into a tie for fifth with Matt Schaffer '08 on the career hits list at Keuka College. The senior now has 122 in his career
Up Next for Keuka College: Keuka College has qualified for the North Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament for the second straight season and tenth time in school history. Keuka College will host Lancaster Bible College on Tuesday afternoon in the first round of the tournament.