AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Gannon baseball team used late-inning heroics during both games Saturday afternoon and ended its spring trip with a sweep of former conference foe Wayne State (Mich.) at the Russ-Matt Invitational in Auburndale, Florida. The Golden Knights completed the sweep by identical 3-2 scores.
Former Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) foe Wayne State grabbed a 2-0 lead in the opener with single runs during the first and fourth innings. Gannon cut the deficit in half during its fourth-inning at-bat.
Shayne Herold (LeRoy, N.Y./LeRoy) and
Jared Wiesen (Girard, Ohio/Liberty) recorded back-to-back one-out singles, before
Nico Baldelli (Ellwood, Pa./Riverside) was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Dylan Schwegler (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell Area) then pushed across the Golden Knights' first run with a walk.
Gannon tied the game at two during its next at-bat in the fifth.
Aaron Cox (Dorchester, N.J./Millville) started a two-out rally with a double to right center. He advanced to third on a single by Herold and scored on an RBI single to left field by Wiesen.
Wayne State was unable to get a runner home from second base in the sixth inning and had a runner picked off first base during the seventh inning. Gannon made the Warriors pay with a walk-off victory in the bottom of the seventh.
Jeff Bellanca (Grand Island, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) reached base after being hit during Gannon's first at-bat of the inning. After a failed sacrifice bunt, Herold singled Bellanca to second.
A ground-out back to the mound pushed the runners into scoring position with two outs. Wayne State played the strategy game by loading the bases with an intentional walk to Baldelli. But Schwegler made the Warriors pay with a two-out walk-off single to right field.
Herold was in a zone, producing a perfect 4-for-4 game with a run scored. Wiesen and
Taylor Anderson (Niagara Falls, Ontario/A.N. Meyer Secondary) both went 2-for-4. Schwegler drove home two of Gannon's three runs.
Matt Tobin (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) went the distance on the mound, improving to 2-0 on the trip. The sophomore left-hander allowed only two runs despite giving up 11 hits. He struck out three and walked four.
The nightcap followed a similar script. Wayne State jumped on Gannon with a two-run homer during the bottom of the first inning. The Golden Knights immediately responded with a Cox RBI ground-out that scored Bellanca during the top of the second inning.
Gannon took advantage of a couple gifts to tie the contest at two in the fifth. Three consecutive singles from Wiesen, Baldelli and
Bob Roach (Erie, Pa./McDowell) loaded the bases with no outs. It appeared Wayne State was going to get out of the jam when it threw Wiesen out at the plate trying to score on a potential sacrifice fly. However, Baldelli and Roach moved into scoring position on a passed ball. The tying run then crossed the plate thanks to an infield error that could have ended the inning.
As it did in the opener, Gannon won the contest in the seventh and Schwegler was the hero again. A pair of hit by pitches and a single loaded the bases with one out. This time, Schwegler drew an RBI walk that accounted for the go-ahead run. Herold followed the rally with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the win.
Anderson and Wiesen recorded two hits each during the nightcap. Six different Golden Knights produced a hit and three different players accounted for the three runs. Herold improved to 2-0 on the rubber by tossing a complete game. The two-run homer in the first inning was the only hit the redshirt senior allowed. He struck out nine and walked five.
Gannon completed its spring trip with an even 6-6 overall record. Wayne State dropped to 3-4 with Saturday's losses. The Golden Knights return to action Wednesday, March 13 at Notre Dame (Ohio). The non-conference doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m.
