ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon baseball team snapped a 13-game losing streak against California (Pa.) with a 6-3 victory in the opening game of a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) doubleheader Thursday afternoon at Gannon University Field. The Golden Knights eventually settled for a split of their final regular-season conference twinbill with a 4-2 setback in the nightcap.

Gannon will now wait for results of the PSAC's final weekend of regular-season play to see if it qualifies for its first post-season since 1970. The Golden Knights ended the regular season with a 15-23 overall record and 10-14 conference mark.

In order for Gannon to qualify for the post-season, California (Pa.) needs to sweep a four-game series against Indiana (Pa.) this weekend. The Cal sweep would put Gannon and IUP in a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot out of the Western Division. Since the two teams split their season series, the tiebreaker would eventually come down their records against California (Pa.). The Golden Knights went 1-3 against the Vulcans.

Gannon jumped out to a 6-0 lead in Thursday's opener, before holding on for a 6-3 victory. Evan Baglieri (Niagara Falls, Ontario/St. Michael's) opened the scoring with a two-out solo blast to left field in the bottom of the second inning.

The contest was won in the fourth inning when Gannon plated four more runs. The Golden Knights produced five consecutive hits after the first two batters recorded outs. Eric Bradley (Mount Pleasant, Pa./Mount Pleasant) drove home the first two runs with a double down the left field line. Lou Downey (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) and Michael Brosius (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) followed with an RBI double and RBI single, respectively.

Gannon added a sixth run on Michael Tomko's (Sharon, Pa./Sharon) RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning.

California (Pa.) tried to rally in the top of the seventh inning, cutting the deficit in half with three runs. Troy Handza hit a two-out, two-run homer before Landon Wahl (Somerset, Pa./Somerset Area) shut down the rally with a fly-out.

Baglieri, Downey and Brosius had two hits each in the opener. The trio was joined by Bradley to form the six-through-nine spots that combined for seven hits, four runs and five RBI.

Wahl improved to 3-2 while recording his first career complete game in his first career start. The junior allowed three runs on nine hits, striking out six and walking two.

In the nightcap, the two teams traded runs in the first two innings. California (Pa.) began the scoring with a single run in the top of the first inning, but Gannon tied the game in the bottom of the second inning. Downey scored the tying run from third base when Brosius stopped between first and second base. He was eventually tagged out in a rundown, but not before Downey crossed the plate.

The visiting Vulcans regained the lead with a run in the fourth inning, before adding two insurance runs in the sixth inning. Gannon had scoring opportunities in the sixth and seventh innings, but came up short.

Gannon opened the sixth inning with three consecutive hits. Kolten Hoffman's (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex) RBI single drove home Tim Lipp (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) with the team's second run. Ryan Hulme was then called out of the bullpen. He ended the rally with a strikeout and a double play.

Trailing 4-2, Gannon put runners at the corners with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning. Cal went to the bullpen again and Randy Sturgill immediately recorded an out without throwing a pitch, picking a runner off first base. He then struck out the only batter he faced to end the game.

Brosius went 3-for-3 in the second game. Four other Golden Knights recorded a hit. Jeff Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic) dropped to 3-3 with the loss, surrendering two runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings. The sophomore struck out two and walked two. Paul McKenna (Oakville, Ontario/Iroquois Ridge) allowed two runs on five hits in 2 1/3 innings of relief work, striking out one.

For a complete box score from the first game of Thursday's Gannon-California (Pa.) baseball doubleheader, please click here.

For a complete box score from the second game of Thursday's Gannon-California (Pa.) baseball doubleheader, please click here.