katie sidare homer walk off iup
1
Indiana (Pa.) IUP-S 13-10, 6-1 PSAC
2
Winner GANNON GAN-S 14-9, 6-1 PSAC
Indiana (Pa.) IUP-S
13-10, 6-1 PSAC
1
Final
2
GANNON GAN-S
14-9, 6-1 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Indiana (Pa.) IUP-S 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 1
GANNON GAN-S 0 0 0 0 0 2 X 2 5 0

W: DeMatteis, Kennedy (7-5) L: Bella Bucy (2-4)

4
Indiana (Pa.) IUP-S 13-11, 6-2 PSAC
5
Winner GANNON GAN-S 15-9, 7-1 PSAC
Indiana (Pa.) IUP-S
13-11, 6-2 PSAC
4
Final
5
GANNON GAN-S
15-9, 7-1 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Indiana (Pa.) IUP-S 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 6 2
GANNON GAN-S 0 0 0 1 2 0 2 5 11 3

W: Tatone, Rebecca (5-2) L: Amanda Fischer (7-4)

Game Recap: Softball | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Late-Inning Heroics Lead Gannon to Sweep of IUP

ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon softball team used a lot of late-inning heroics to post a sweep of Indiana(Pa.) on Friday afternoon at McConnell Family Stadium. The Golden Knights won game one 2-1 thanks to a pair of sixth-inning runs and another strong pitching performance from Kennedy DeMatteis (Boyers, Pa./Moniteau). Game two was a come-from-behind 5-4 victory as Katie Sidare (Rochester, N.Y./Victor Central) hit a two-run, walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning on Katie's Kids Day.

The two victories give Gannon a four-game winning streak following back-to-back sweeps of Pitt-Johnstown and IUP on Thursday and Friday. The Golden Knights improved to 15-9 overall and 7-1 in the PSAC West. IUP suffered its first losses of the season in league play and is now 6-2, along with 13-11 overall.

The second game ended in dramatic fashion as IUP took a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth inning after Gannon had tied the score in the bottom of the fifth. Sidare, a sophomore, stepped to the plate with two outs and drilled a home run to straight-away center field for Gannon's only lead of the game. It was the second straight day she hit a home run.

Ironically, it came on the day that Gannon was honoring the memory of another Katie, Katie Eckelberry, a former Gannon player who was tragically killed when hit by a drunk driver in 2020. She had played for the Golden Knights from 2015-18 and graduated in 2019. Her parents, Jim and Laurie Eckelberry, threw out the ceremonial first pitch while funds were raised for the memorial fund named in her honor, Katies' Kids.  

In the first game, DeMatteis won her fourth straight game to improve to 7-5 and move further up the Gannon career records charts. She is now eighth in career victories with 47, along with seventh in career strikeouts (373) and sixth in career innings pitched (523.1). Sister Kristina DeMatteis (Boyers, Pa./Moniteau), meanwhile, drove in a pair of runs in the first game to become the 16th Golden Knight with 100 career RBIs. She is tied 14th in career RBIs.

GAME 1 – Gannon 2, IUP 1
Kennedy DeMatteis (Boyers, Pa./Moniteau) and Bella Bucy traded goose eggs into the sixth inning before Gannon broke through with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. With one out Katie Sidare (Rochester, N.Y./Victor Central) singled to right center. She would score the game's first run when Jules Ryan (Collegeville, Pa./Spring Ford) followed with a long drive to right center that went for an RBI double. It was Ryan's second run batted in of the season. Following a foul out, Lea Coffman (Lower Burrell, Pa./Burrell) drove in what looked like an insurance run with a single up the middle. DeMatteis got the first two outs in the top of the seventh inning on groundouts, but the inning got complicated after that. Pinch hitter Renee Wall hit a long home run to left field to cut the lead to 2-1. IUP followed with a bloop single to left, and a swinging bunt in front of home plate went for a single to put runners on first and second. DeMatteis ended the uprising with a comebacker, the 13th ground ball out of the game. The graduate student allowed five hits and walked three while striking out two. Andrea Watson (Venus, Pa./Cranberry Area) reached base three time for the Golden Knights, all on walks. Sidare had the single and also reached on a hit by pitch.

GAME 2 – Gannon 5, IUP 4
The Golden Knights handed IUP a heart-breaking loss after the Crimson Hawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Joelle Snyder led off the game with a home run to right center and the Crimson Hawks would take advantage of three Gannon errors in the inning to score two more runs. Rebecca Tatone (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) entered the game for Gannon to start the third inning and would limit IUP to just one run over the final five innings. Gannon gained a run back in the fourth inning when Kristina DeMatteis (Boyers, Pa./Moniteau) led off with as single and moved up to second on an error. She would score on Jules Ryan's (Collegeville, Pa./Spring Ford) single up the middle, but the Golden Knights had a chance to score more but left runners on first and third. Gannon knotted the score at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth. Abbey Girman (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) started the inning with an infield single and moved up after an out on Nicole Bush's (Painesville, Ohio/Lake Catholic) infield single. Both runners moved up on a throwing error. They would score when DeMatteis hit a shot up the middle that rolled all the way to the center field fence for a two-run double. She moved up to third on a wild pitch but was stranded there. IUP regained the lead with a run in the sixth inning, setting the stage for Sidare's heroics. Megan Dietrick (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) opened the inning with a double to left center, but IUP pitcher Amanda Fischer retired the next two batters. Sidare stepped to the plate and on a 1-0 pitch hit a long fly ball that carried over the center field fence for her second home run of the season. Kristina DeMatteis (Boyers, Pa./Moniteau) ended the game with two hits and a pair of RBIs in four at bats, while Bush was also 2-for-4. Girman went 2-for-3. Tatone improved to 5-2 with the win in relief. She allowed three hits in five innings, striking out seven.     
 
Print Friendly Version