Scranton Lions Roar to a Big Conference Series Win

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On a picture-perfect Friday afternoon in the electric city, the hometown Penn State Scranton Lions baseball team split their doubleheader vs. conference rival Penn State York by falling in the opening contest 12-6 and winning in dominant fashion in the game two nightcap by an 11-4 margin. To go along with today's victory, the Lions swept their road twin bill on Thursday over York 5-4 and 5-3 respectively, so Scranton has now clinched their first big conference series win of the season going victorious in three of the four showdowns the two squads had. Scranton who was just on a red hot five game winning streak, is now at a 12-14 overall record and they improve to a 3-5 mark in their crucial league play schedule so far this 2026 campaign.

In the first game of the day, the road warriors from York's offense exploded for a whopping 12 runs, as they tallied a pair in the top half of the first, another couple of runs in the third, one in the fourth, and a big seven spot in the fifth frame to put the game out of reach once and for all. The Lions from Scranton got a run in the bottom half of the second, two in the fourth, and a trio in the sixth inning to account for their six runs in the battle. Overall York out hit Scranton by a 16-9 margin in the ball game.

Scranton was led on their offensive attack by the dynamic duo of stand-out junior first baseman Alex Brinkman and sophomore stud catcher Isaiah Alicea who each had stellar multi-hit performances. Brinkman was a near flawless 2-3 at the plate, scored twice, and walked once for good measure. Alicea went a perfect 2-2 at the dish, walking twice, smacked an opposite field RBI single to right in the bottom of the fourth, and drilled a double to right in the sixth frame. The Lions other five base hits came off the bats of sophomore third baseman Joel Brennan who was 1-4 after pulling a nice three run double to left in the sixth, senior right fielder Guy Mushow and junior left fielder Jake Sullivan each went 1-4 at the dish as well, junior DH/pitcher Logan Moss was 1-2, and last but certainly not least, junior shortstop Martino Tobasco went 1-3 with an RBI single to left field in the fourth.

Meanwhile, York had an awe-inspiring five players put up stalwart multi-hit ball games in the opener, as senior shortstop Ryan Ness, fellow senior, DH AJ Miller, junior center fielder Colin Eckinger, sophomore third baseman Ben Blydenburgh, and sophomore right fielder Zach Cole set the pace offensively for their squad. Ness was 3-5 at the plate, tallying a pair of runs, and drove in three. Miller also went 3-5, with a run scored, and had a couple of RBI. Eckinger was 3-4, scored once, and knocked a run in. Blydenburgh went 2-3, scoring twice, and notched an RBI. Cole was 2-4, tallying a run, and drove one home to boot. York's other hat trick of hits came from sophomore second baseman Kyle Mazzie who went 1-4, scored twice, and had an RBI, senior left fielder Brian Hauer was 1-3, walked twice, scored once, and swiped a bag on the base pads, and finally, junior first baseman Alex Eisenberger went 1-4 with a run scored.

In the pitching department, Scranton started sophomore right-hander Ethan Scotch and he took the loss after tossing a quartet of innings, surrendering five runs, three of them earned, seven hits, walked no one, and fanned a trio of hitters in his outing. Moss came out of the bullpen first and only went 1/3 of an inning after allowing seven runs, six of them earned, a couple of hits, and walked only one. Next out of the pen, junior southpaw Kevin Rivera took the mound and hurled 1 2/3 innings, gave up no runs, five base hits, and walked just one batter in his solid relief appearance. To wrap up the festivities on the bump, freshman righty Jonathan Greenburg threw the final inning for his club, as he did not allow a run, walked no one, and gave up just a pair of hits in his outing. Meanwhile, the Lions from York gave the ball to senior lefty Eli Weigle and he went the distance in his complete game victory on the mound, as he tossed all seven frames, allowed six earned runs, nine hits, walked five, and struck out four Scranton hitters in the matinee.

In the game two nightcap, Scranton seized the momentum early and never looked back, as they put up a whopping six runs in the bottom of the second inning to kick-off their powerful scoring barrage, and added another five big insurance runs in the fourth to account for their 11 run offensive outburst. Meanwhile, York was held to just a trio of runs in the top half of the third and one run in their final at-bats in the seventh inning to muster up their four runs in the ball game. Scranton out hit York by a razor thin 10-9 margin in the contest.

Scranton had four of their players with rock solid multi-hit efforts in the second game, as Brinkman, Alicea, Mushow, and freshman catcher Jake Iacavazzi set the tone for their ball club. Brinkman was 3-4 with an RBI double to center in the bottom of the fourth, scored twice, and stole two bases during the proceedings. Alicea continued his hot hitting going 2-3 at the plate, drew a walk, stole a base, tallied a couple of runs, and drove home a pair. Mushow went 2-3, launching a two run double to right field in the bottom of the second, walked once, swiped two bags, scored a run, and had two RBI. Iacavazzi was 2-3 with a single to left and a single to right field in the fourth and fifth frames respectively. The Lions other base hit came from freshman second baseman Paulie Maccarrone who went 1-4 at the dish with a run tallied and an RBI.

Meanwhile, York had a hat trick of players who had multi-hit outings in the nightcap, as Mazzie, Cole, and Eckinger led the way on the offensive side of the ball for their team. Mazzie was 2-4, cranked a double, scored once, and drove a run home. Cole went 2-3 and Eckinger was 2-3 as well, scoring a run, and stole a base. York's other three hits came from Eisenberger who was 1-3, crushing a solo home run over the left field fence for his club's final run of the day to lead-off the seventh inning, to go along with his run scored, and RBI, Ness went 1-2, drew a walk, and scored once, and finally, Hauer also was 1-2 in the match and walked once.

On the pitching side of things, Scranton had sophomore right-hander Bronson Kilmer toe the slab first, and he hurled three innings, surrendering a trio of earned runs, four base hits, walked only one, and fanned four York hitters in his solid start. Senior righty John Paffenroth earned the victory in relief coming out of the bullpen, as he threw a dazzling four innings, allowing just one earned run, five hits, walked a batter, and had a strikeout in his commanding performance. Meanwhile, York started sophomore right-hander Ryan Mahar on the mound and he struggled in his 1 2/3 innings picking up the loss, giving up six runs, four of them earned, five hits, walked a trio, and fanned a hitter. Lefty sophomore Jonathan Miller finished things up for York out of the pen, as he tossed 4 1/3 innings of relief, allowing five runs, three of them earned, five base hits, walked only one, and struck out a Scranton batter in his appearance.

Now veteran head coach Collin Ferguson and his 12-14 Penn State Scranton baseball team will look to continue their winning ways in crucial conference play when they next host league rival Penn State Schuylkill in an integral doubleheader this upcoming Friday, April 17th, with first pitch slated for a 2pm start time. Meanwhile, head coach Jeff Barkdoll and his 11-14 Penn State York squad, who are 6-6 in conference play, will try to bounce right back from their tough losses to Scranton when they next host Penn State Brandywine this Monday evening at 5pm for a single nine inning affair at beautiful WellSpan Park, the home stadium of the York Revolution pro baseball team.