Published: March 26, 2008 01:48 am            

Falcons drop pair to Crimson Hawks

FAIRMONT — IUP took a pair of games from Fairmont State on a blustery afternoon at Mary Lou Retton Park. The Crimson Hawks withstood a late FSU rally to take game one, 6-3, and then took game two by a 12-8 decision.

FSU dropped to 6-16 on the year, while IUP improved to 16-4 on the season.

In game one, IUP was opportunistic in its chances and Fairmont State could not take advantage of its own as the Crimson Hawks won, 6-3. Starter Todd Dillon alked the first two batters he faced, and IUP converted those into runs on a single and a sacrifice fly to take a 2-0 lead.

Dillon settled down, striking out six straight batters spanning the end of the first and into the third. However, with two outs in the third, IUP used timely hitting to push across four more runs. Shayne Busti hit a two-run homer after a walk, and after another walk, Shawn Schwarz hit an RBI double. Schwarz scored on a passed ball.

Fairmont State couldn’t get anything going until the fifth inning when Zack Solly hit an RBI double for the Falcons. The Falcons tried to mount a rally in the seventh pushing across two runs. Jonathan Kemp had an RBI single and Joe Tatta brought in a run on a fielder’s choice, bringing up the tying run to the plate, but couldn’t complete the rally.

Dillon took the loss. He pitched five-plus innings, giving up six runs (five earned) and striking out 10.

Solly and Tatta led FSU with two hits and an RBI apiece.

In game two, FSU mounted a comeback in the fifth inning with six runs. IUP starter Steve Mondschein loaded the bases with two hit batters and walk around one strikeout. Cunningham hit an RBI single and after a runner scored on a wild pitch, Solly reached on an error scoring another. With two on, Nick Demus cleared the bases with a blast to center field to complete the six-run inning. IUP countered with a three-run home run in top half of the sixth to take back command, 11-6.

Aaron Whitford took the loss for Fairmont State. He pitched five innings, giving up seven hits and eight runs (five earned).

        

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