WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Camden Ross smashed the 21st grand slam in State College Spikes history and Justin Journette became the second Spike with two homers in the same game to help trim a 9-0 deficit to 9-7, but the Williamsport Crosscutters held on to take a 13-7 slugfest on Monday night at Journey Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field.
After Josh Willits (1-0) shut out the Spikes (5-5 2nd Half) through the first six innings, Journette walloped his third home run of the season, a 362-foot, two-run shot to left field, to put State College on the board.
The Spikes put more of a hurt on a beleaguered Crosscutters (7-3 2nd Half) bullpen in the eighth inning. Nyan Hayes led off with a single, then, after a Ryan Rivera groundout, moved up to second base when CJ Richmond was hit with a pitch by Williamsport reliever James McCoy. Hayes went on steal third base before McCoy hit Jackson Rains on the arm with another pitch to load the bases.
Ross then faced the next man in, Preston Drebes, and drilled his first pitch for a a 339-foot shot to the Spikes bullpen in left field to etch his name into the Spikes history books. The grand slam was the Spikes’ first since September 1 of last year, when TJ Salvaggio achieved the feat in Williamsport, and added to a list that includes major leaguers Alex Dickerson, David Washington, Andy Young and Lars Nootbaar.
Journette followed with his second dinger, a 362-foot solo shot to eighth, to mark the second back-to-back homers of the 2026 Spikes season and become the second Spike with two homers in a game after Tyree Reed on June 3 in Mahoning Valley.
However, the Crosscutters answered with four runs in the third, three of them on a double from Nicholas Romano, who had made two sensational diving stops at third base earlier in the night.
Matthew Williams hit his second homer of the year for Williamsport, a two-run shot to left, in the third as part of a four-RBI game.
Spikes starter Trey Cehajic (1-1) took the loss after being charged with seven runs on nine hits while striking out three batters over three innings.
Willits yielded just two hits, a walk and a hit batsman while striking out five batters for the win.
The Spikes and Crosscutters finish up their two-game mini-series at Journey Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field on Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m. State College will look to capture its first win of the season at Williamsport with right-hander Lex Kenny (0-1) getting the ball for the Spikes against Crosscutters right-hander Kenney Fabian (0-0)
Following the series against the Crosscutters, and an off day on Wednesday, the Spikes will round out the July home schedule with one of the biggest weeks ever, featuring Paint the Park Purple presented by Juniper Village with a Purple Hat Giveaway presented by Juniper Village, Home Instead and Advantage Home Health for the first 500 fans on Thursday, July 23, the first-ever DRONE SHOW at the ballpark along with Star Wars Night on Friday, July 24, Paint the Park Pink presented by Mount Nittany Health with a Pink Patriotic Jersey-off-the-Back Auction to benefit the Mount Nittany Health Foundation, a Pink Patriotic T-Shirt Giveaway for the first 500 fans, and FIREWORKS after the game on Saturday, July 25, and a special appearance by Bluey on Sunday, July 26.
Plus, it's Papa Johns Night on Monday, July 27 along with Buck Bleacher Night, and the huge week finishes on Tuesday, July 28 with the only scheduled day game of the Spikes' 20th Anniversary Season home schedule on Super Splash Day with a 12:05 p.m. start time.
Tickets for all of these games, along with every remaining home game on the 20th Anniversary Season schedule, are available by calling 814-271-1711 or by visiting the Spikes Ticket Office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with hours during home game days of 10 a.m. to the end of the game Monday through Friday and 12 p.m. to the end of the game on Saturday and Sunday.
Fans can also buy and download single-game tickets, and view the 2026 promotional schedule, by visiting StateCollegeSpikes.com
Catch all the action of the Spikes’ game against the Crosscutters on Tuesday via the Spikes Radio Network presented by Penn State Sports Medicine, Official Healthcare Provider of Penn State Athletics with Steve Jones and Joe Putnam on the call. The broadcast starts with Spikes Live! presented by Mount Nittany Health on the air from Journey Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field starting at approximately 6:20 p.m.
Audio streaming of every Spikes game, home and away, is available on StateCollegeSpikes.com.
