Baseball Drops a Pair to Mansfield

BLOOMSBURG—The Bloomsburg University baseball team opened their Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) schedule with a pair of losses to Mansfield on Friday. The Huskies dropped game one, 9-3 and fell 4-3 in the second game.

In the opening game, Bloomsburg jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second, as Joe Pesci (Levittown/Pennsbury) started the inning with a walk, then scored on a fielder's choice by Chris Husted (West Decatur/Philipsburg/Osceola). Andy Bucher (Littlestown/Littlestown) knocked in Husted with a single, then scored himself as Larry Piccini (Jessup/Valley View) followed with a base hit.

Trailing 3-0 heading into the fifth, Mansfield scored six times, highlighted by a grand slam homerun by Eric Baker. The Mountaineers added three runs in the sixth inning to take the 9-3 victory.

In game two, Bloomsburg trailed 4-1 after two innings, but clawed back before falling 4-3. After a Ryan Wyland (Williamsport/Loyalsock Twp.) lineout started the sixth inning for Bloomsburg, Larry Piccini drew a walk, and pinch runner Mark Burch (Stroudsburg/Pocono Mountain) scored on a Rich Letts (Parkersburg/Octorara) double. Letts then scored on a single off the bat of Joe Pesci. Chris Husted followed with a walk to put two runners on base, but back-to-back fly outs would end the game. The game was stopped after six innings due to darkness.

Piccini finished the twinbill with three hits and two runs batted in, while James and Pesci also chipped in with three hits apiece on the day.

Bloomsburg falls to 6-14, 0-2 PSAC East while Mansfield improves to 12-10, 3-0 PSAC East. The Huskies return to action on Saturday when they travel to face Mansfield in a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m.