GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona baseball team dipped back into non-conference play on Sunday afternoon, when the Lions were handed a 12-6 loss by Thiel College at Tomcat Park.

Penn State Altoona (13-14) worked its way out to a 3-2 lead through three-and-a-half innings, but Thiel (6-22) surged ahead in the bottom of the fourth, when the Tomcats put six runs on the board on their way to a six-run victory over the Lions.

Benjamin Ettien (Media, PA/Penncrest) went 2-for-2 at the plate for Penn State Altoona with two walks, one RBI, and one run scored. Hayden Sanchez (Mercersburg, PA/James Buchanan) also had a two-hit game, going 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI, a run scored, and a stolen base.

Caden Force (Indiana, PA/Indiana) was the starting pitcher for the Lions, and he finished with a no-decision after going three innings, yielding a pair of runs, and striking out three batters. Ryan Paolella (Levittown, PA/Pennsbury) made his first appearance and took the loss after working the fourth inning in relief. After that, Chris Mull (Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville) pitched one inning and surrendered one earned run, and Preston Farabaugh (Ebensburg, PA/Penn Cambria) tossed the last three frames, giving up two runs and recording two strikeouts.

Penn State Altoona scored a run in the top of the first inning. Brian Chelli (West Hartford, CT/Hall) led off with a single to right, moved up to second when Zach Ingold (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) was hit by a pitch, and then advanced to third on a stolen base. Owen Dombrosky's (Hollidaysburg, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) groundout to second base plated Chelli, giving the Lions a 1-0 lead.

Thiel answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the first, as Zach Smith led off with a base hit and later came around to score on a wild pitch. The Tomcats jumped ahead in the bottom of the second, when another wild pitch brought home Jack Fickes.

The Lions evened the score at 2-2 in the top of the third. Ingold reached on a one-out infield single, moved up to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Ettien's two-out single up the middle.

Penn State Altoona capitalized on some Thiel miscues to take a 3-2 lead in the top half of the fourth. Sanchez led off the inning by reaching on a strikeout wild pitch, and he later came home on a throwing error to put the Lions up by one.

But the Tomcats rallied to put six on the board in the bottom of the fourth. An RBI single from Calvin Cackowski and a two-run single from Joey Schimizzi put Thiel back in front, and Cackowski came home on a wild pitch one batter after that. Sacrifice flies from Joey Fell and JT Gerle helped the home team to an 8-3 advantage by the inning's end.

Penn State Altoona got a run back in the top of the fifth, as Ettien singled with one out, advanced to third on a Sanchez double, and later scored when Nate Osteen (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

But Thiel tacked two more runs onto its total in the bottom of the fifth, as a passed ball yielded a run by Smith and a Schimizzi sac fly to right gave the Tomcats a 10-4 lead.

The Lions got an RBI single from Sanchez in the sixth, as well as a run-scoring single from Ethan Bojko (Chester Springs, PA/Downingtown East) in the seventh, but Thiel was able to get a two-run single from Schimizzi in the home half of the seventh, and the Tomcats went on to win by six, 12-6.

Penn State Altoona baseball returns to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference play this Wednesday, April 15, when the Lions open a three-game series with conference opponent Pitt-Greensburg at home. Game one of the three-game set will be at Stewart Athletic Field on Wednesday, with first pitch set for 3 p.m.