Tough start to the season for the IUP baseball team as the Crimson Hawks went 1-4 at USC-Aiken this weekend. They lost the first two games by scores of 6-5 and 20-4 before rebounding in the third game with a 5-2 win and rounding out the weekend with a 9-8 loss.
Sophomores Ricardo Aponte and Robert Carfagno went a combined 14-for-27 on the trip. Juniors David Kessler and Elijah Dunn each hit a home run.
Junior southpaw Nathan Mankoski earned his first win of the season on Saturday after allowing just four hits and one unearned run in five innings. He also tallied five strikeouts in the effort.
IUP returns to action Friday when they face Hillsdale College and Fairmont State in a three-game slate.
