Justin Geiger hit a grand slam home run in the opening game of the Chestnut Hill college Baseball team's double header against Lock Haven University as the Griffins split the twinbill, winning the first game 8-6 before dropping the second 4-2. The games, CHC's first "home" contests were played at the James J. Ramp Athletic Complex in Northeast Philadelphia.
The Griffins record now stands at 1-7 while Lock Haven is now 5-4.
Geiger also added a solo home run in CHC's second game loss as did
David Antone.
Marlon Rose picked up the win in relief in game one, tossing two innings of one run ball, allowing just two hits.
Jake Schweiker, who started, settled down after a rough first inning to throw five on the day, giving up five runs on eight hits with two strikeouts.
Eight of the 14 combined runs scored in the opening game came in the first inning of action. Lock Haven sent eight batters to the plate to start the game, banging out four singles and jumping to an early 3-0 lead.
Eli Meredith led off the game for the Griffins with a double down the right field line and scored on
Ahmaad Goldson's sacrifice fly.
RJ Huth followed with a walk to load the bases and two batters later, Geiger belted a home run over the left centerfield fence for a gland slam and a 5-3 Griffins lead.
The Bald Eagles cut the lead to 5-4 with an unearned run in the third while the Griffins added another run on a bases-loaded single from Antone in the fourth, making the score 6-4.
Solo runs by Lock Haven in the fifth and sixth inning tied the game at 6-6 heading into the bottom half of the sixth inning.
Andrew Sawarynski recorded a two-out single and was lifted for a pinch runner,
Zack Ahmed. After moving to second on a wild pitch, Ahmed scored the go-ahead run on Antone's single to left field, his second RBI of the game. Antone later scored an insurance run via a wild pitch.
Rose allowed just one baserunner (via an infield error) as he recorded the final three outs for the win.
In game two, Geiger's second home run of the day gave the Griffins a 1-0 lead. Two walks, two errors and a two-run single led to four Lock Haven runs in the top half of the fourth inning, giving the visitors a 4-1 lead. Antone's home run in the sixth closed the gap to 4-2 but that would be as close as the Griffins would come.
Geiger also had a single and Sawarynski added a single of his own to give CHC four hits for the game.
Brendan Long (0-2) took the loss for the Griffins, tossing five innings and allowing four unearned runs while striking out five.
The baseball team returns to action with a single nine inning game on Sunday against Lock Haven to complete thew three-game series. The first pitch is set for 12 noon at the James J. Ramp Athletic complex in northeast Philadelphia.
