ERIE, Pa. – Gannon picked up a non-conference sweep against Lake Erie College on Friday afternoon during its 2022 home opener at McConnell Family Stadium in Erie. The Knights nipped the Storm by a 3-2 final in game one, before rolling to a 7-0 shutout win in game two.
With the doubleheader sweep, Gannon improves to 7-7 on the season. Lake Erie fell to 3-7 on the year.
Game 1: Gannon 3, Lake Erie 2
In game one, Gannon's
Gabi Vasi (Tonawanda, N.Y./Kenmore East) improved to 3-1 on the season after allowing just two runs on seven hits in the circle. The sophomore also chipped in at the plate by driving home the game-winning run for the Knights in the bottom of sixth. Vasi's sixth-inning single to center field scored
Sophia Buckberger (Winnipeg, Manitoba/St. Mary's Academy) from second to give Gannon the lead for good.
Megan Dietrick (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the second for Gannon with an RBI single up the middle that brought home
Katie Sidare (Rochester, N.Y./Victor Central) for the 1-0 lead. After Lake Erie knotted the game in the bottom of the third on an RBI single, the Knights would regain the lead two innings later when
Kristina DeMatteis (Boyers, Pa./Moniteau) singled to left field to bring home
Nicole Bush (Painesville, Ohio/Lake Catholic) from third. Lake Erie would tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the sixth, setting the stage for Vasi's game winner.
Neither team recorded an extra-base hit in the first game of the doubleheader. Dietrick led the Knights at the plate by going 3-for-3 with a run batted-in. Bush recorded two stolen bases in the win for the Knights.
Game 2: Gannon 7, Lake Erie 0
In game two,
Kennedy DeMatteis (Boyers, Pa./Moniteau) made the start and carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning to lead the Knights to a shutout victory. Her one-hit pitching performance also included four strikeouts and just two walks. She faced 24 total batters.
Kennedy (DeMattieis) also had a big day at the plate for the Knights, going 2-for-3 with a triple, home run and three runs batted-in. It was Kennedy's first home run since her first career at-bat against Slippery Rock back on April 8, 2018. Kennedy's sister
Kristina DeMatteis (Boyers, Pa./Moniteau) also had a 2-for-3 hitting performance in game two with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
After the DeMattieis sisters homered in the fourth and fifth innings, the Knights added five more runs in the bottom of the sixth to take total control of the game.
In the sixth, Dietrick began the scoring for the Knights with an RBI single that brought home
Lily Gfeller (Livonia, N.Y./Livonia) from second. During the next at-bat, Vasi pinch hit for
Lea Coffman (Lower Burrell, Pa./Burrell) and singled up the middle to score Sidare from third.
Following a Lake Erie pitching change,
Kennedy DeMatteis (Boyers, Pa./Moniteau) blasted a triple into center field that scored two runs and gave the Knights a commanding 6-0 advantage. Bush wrapped up the scoring for Gannon with an RBI single during the next at-bat that scored
Olivia Evans (Horseheads, New York/Horseheads Senior High) from third. Evans was a pinch runner for DeMatteis following her triple.
Lake Erie's Tymarie Hutc singled in the top of the seventh to give the Storm their first and only hit of the game.
Gannon will now hit the road for a 3 p.m. doubleheader at D'Youville on Wednesday, March 23 in Buffalo, New York. The Knights will return home next Thursday for a doubleheader against Mercyhurst beginning at 4 p.m. at McConnell Family Stadium.
