Mont Alto Baseball Rallies to Sweep Central Penn

By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director

PALMYRA, Pa. – The Penn State Mont Alto baseball team was an offensive juggernaut scoring a season-high 24 runs in the first win over Central Penn College and railed in the seventh inning on Tuesday for 9-8 doubleheader sweep over the Knights. Mont Alto won the first game 24-12 and improved to 18-12 overall on their season.

Penn State Mont Alto 24, Central Penn College 12

• Mont Alto scored first in the first inning when both Brady Topper (Littlestown, Pa. / Littlestown) and Colby Black (Shippensburg, Pa. / Big Spring) touched home when Chayse Fisher (Mercersburg, Pa. / James Buchanan) reached on an opponent's error.
• The lead was short lived with the Knights plating four runs in the bottom half of the frame.
• Mont Alto scored five more runs in the second inning to grab the 7-4 lead. Highlights within the inning included a Brady Topper (Littlestown, Pa. / Littlestown) RBI double and a two-run homer off of the bat of Hunter Martin (Hagerstown, Md. / North Hagerstown).
• Paul Steiger (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro Area) threw a scoreless bottom half of the inning. PSUMA added three more runs in the third inning with Nick Jacoby (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg), Topper and Martin each driving in a run within the stanza.
• AJ Millar (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin) connected on his third homer of the season and the team led 11-4 entering the fifth inning.
• Mont Alto scored a season-high for them, 13 runs in what turned out to be the final inning. The offense exploded for seven hits as the final four runs were scored on patient at-bats as they drew four-straight walks.
• Steiger earned the win on the mound and was relieved by both Clark Payne (Shenandoah Junction, W.Va. / Heritage Academy) and Aric Smoker (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) who combined to throw the bottom half of the fifth inning.

Penn State Mont Alto 9, Central Penn College 8

• Jeremiah Younker (Hagerstown, Md. / Williamsport) went 2-for-3 on the afternoon and blasted a pair of homers including a two-run shot in the top of the seventh inning that tied the game up at eight runs apiece. After the game tying homer, their were runners on first and second base before a Chance McClure (Chambersburg, Pa. / Chambersburg Area) double plated Caleb Leggett (Williamsport, Md. / Williamsport), which ended up being the game-winning run.
• Central Penn carried a 3-0 lead before PSUMA evened the score in the fourth inning with three runs in the top half of the inning. A Younker homer and McClure single which plated two runs accounted for the scoring. The Knights want back ahead 8-4 in the bottom of the fifth when Connor Graham sent a three-run homer over the fence.
• Brady Topper (Littlestown, Pa. / Littlestown) also homered in the nightcap of the doubleheader as Younker earned the save on the mound with three-straight strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh inning with Cameron Lee (Warrenton, Va. / Fauquier) earning the win.

Mont Alto returns to action on Wednesday, April 10 with a home non-conference doubleheader with Hagerstown Community College. Game times are slated for 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.