ERIE, Pa. –
Shayne Herold's (LeRoy, N.Y./LeRoy) four-hit shutout helped the Gannon baseball team earn a split of an important Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division doubleheader against California (Pa.) Sunday afternoon at Gannon University Field. The visiting Vulcans captured game one by a 7-0 score, before the Golden Knights flipped the tables with a 3-0 shutout during the nightcap.
Gannon and California (Pa.) began the weekend tied for first place in the PSAC West, but neither team was able to change that position after splitting a four-game weekend series. The two clubs swapped victories during a Saturday twinbill at Cal. Thus, the deadlock remains with a pair of four-game series remaining for both programs.
Herold threw a gem in front of his parents on Senior Day, taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning. The redshirt senior had faced the minimum through 5 1/3 innings until Matt Peters broke up the no-no with a single off the base of the right field wall. A walk to the next batter put Herold in his first trouble of the afternoon, but he was able to keep the Vulcans off the board with a strikeout and a ground-out.
California (Pa.) also had runners on first and second base during the sixth and seventh innings, but Herold got out of both jams untouched. A
Dylan Schwegler (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell Area) diving catch in center field and a pop-out in front of the plate ended the sixth-inning rally. A fly-out and a line-out in the seventh preserved the 3-0 victory.
Gannon scored the only run it would need during the bottom of the first inning.
Jared Wiesen (Girard, Ohio/Liberty) led off the game with a single to right field and moved to second on a Schwegler sacrifice bunt. The freshman then scored on
Michael Tomko's (Sharon, Pa./Sharon) single up the middle. Tomko became Gannon's all-time RBI leader with his 115th career RBI on the play.
In the second inning,
Bob Roach (Erie, Pa./McDowell) and
Taylor Anderson (Niagara Falls, Ontario/A.N. Myer Secondary) led off with consecutive singles. The runners moved up one base on a
Lou Downey (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) sacrifice bunt, before Roach scored on Wiesen's single into the hole at shortstop to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 advantage.
More fundamental baseball led to the final run in the sixth inning.
Jeff Bellanca (Grand Island, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) led off with a single and advanced into scoring position after a sacrifice bunt by Herold. Roach then drove home Bellanca with a double into the right center gap.
Wiesen and Anderson both went 3-for-3 in the nightcap. Roach finished 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
Herold remained perfect at 7-0 with his fourth complete game and second shutout of the season. In the process, he lowered the PSAC's best ERA to 0.82. The LeRoy, N.Y., native struck out two and walked two.
Pitching was also the difference during Sunday's opener, but it came from the opposite dugout. Cal's Jack Dennis whirled a three-hit shutout to help the Vulcans capture a 7-0 victory. Gannon's best scoring chances came during the second and third innings when it advanced runners to third base. But Dennis was able to get out of both jams without allowing a run.
Offensively, Cal scored twice during the first, fourth and fifth innings. Roach, Schwegler and
Nico Baldelli (Ellwood, Pa./Riverside) accounted for Gannon's hits.
Matt Wilwohl (Erie, Pa./McDowell) tossed 3 1/3 innings of relief for the Golden Knights without allowing an earned run.
Gannon, ranked ninth in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Atlantic Region Poll, moved to 19-13 overall and 11-5 in the PSAC Western Division with Sunday's split. California (Pa.), tabbed fourth in that same poll, is now 27-12 overall and 11-5 in conference action.
Head coach
Nate Cocolin's squad returns to action Friday, April 26 against rival Mercyhurst at Gannon University Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
