HARRISBURG, Pa. – The St. John Fisher College baseball team split on Saturday as the Cardinals fell in the opening game of a doubleheader against Penn State Harrisburg before rebounding to take the night cap behind five strong innings from freshman Tim Geissel.  With the split, Fisher sits at 5-6 overall.
 
PENN ST. HARRISBURG 8, FISHER 3
 
After falling behind by three runs through the first five innings of play, Fisher broke through in the top of sixth as Ryan Brown, Ryan Fahy and Stephen Edgett each came up with a single to load the bases with one away.  Jack Vivinetto stepped to the plate and picked up an RBI, but that was all Fisher would come away with as the Lions notched a strikeout to end the threat with a 3-1 lead.
 
Penn State Harrisburg extended its lead in the home half of the sixth after tagging Fisher for five runs on four hits including a two-run double to open up a seven-run edge, 8-1, heading to the top of the seventh.
 
In the seventh, Thomas Pasquale led off with a walk and moved to second when Ryan Simmons followed suit with a walk of his own.  After a groundout by Scott Eisenmenger moved the runners up, Justin Graham ripped a two-run double to the gap that plated both Pasquale and Simmons to make it 8-3, but that was as close as Fisher would come as the Lions would retire eight straight to claim the win.
 
RJ Kuruts (1-1) was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs on five hits in 5.1 innings of work.  The freshman walked just one and fanned four overall before giving way to Jared Wren who surrendered three runs in two-thirds of an inning.  Pat Galer pitched the final two innings and did not yield a run.
 
FISHER 7, PENN ST. HARRISBURG 4
 
Geissel (2-0) picked up the win after tossing 5.1 innings and allowing three runs on six hits.  The freshman notched three strikeouts overall before Kyle Chambers closed the game out with six Ks over the final 3.2 innings of work to pick up his first save of the season.
 
After falling behind in the first inning from a solo shot by the Lions, Fisher came to life in the top of the second with three runs on three hits including RBI knocks from Eisenmenger, Fahy and Victor Konstantinovsky to hold a two-run lead, 3-1.
 
Both pitchers traded zeroes in the third inning before Penn State Harrisburg plated a pair in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI-triple and a sacrifice fly before Geissel retired the side with a strikeout to head to the top of the fifth tied up at 3-3.
 
After a scoreless fifth inning, Fisher scored the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth when Simmons and Allen Murphy led off with back-to-back walks before Eisenmenger drove in a run with an RBI single to make it 4-3.
 
In the top of the seventh, Fisher added two more runs on two hits beginning with a bases-loaded misplay by the Lions that allowed Pasquale to scurry home to make it 5-3.  As the frame continued, Brown delivered with a fielder's choice and an RBI to make it 6-3 in Fisher's favor.
 
The Cardinals surrendered a run in the home half of the eighth, but got it back in the top of the ninth as Brown drove in Pasquale who had singled to lead off the inning.
The Cardinals are back in action at 1 p.m. on Sunday as they continue their road trip to Kean University.