gannon vs. east stroudsburg PSAC tournament 2022
Slippery Rock Sports Information
11
Winner East Stroudsburg ESU-B 35-15
3
Gannon GAN-B 29-15
Winner
East Stroudsburg ESU-B
35-15
11
Final
3
Gannon GAN-B
29-15
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
East Stroudsburg ESU-B 0 0 0 2 0 1 2 0 6 11 12 0
Gannon GAN-B 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 5 2

W: Nate Fiala (2-2) L: Reitebach, Joe (3-2)

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

Gannon Falls to East Stroudsburg in First Round of PSAC Tournament

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- East Stroudsburg pushed across two runs in the top of the seventh to take the lead and then scored six times in the top of the ninth to hand Gannon an 11-3 defeat in a first round PSAC Tournament contest. The Golden Knights, the top seed out of the Western Division, are now eliminated with the first-round games single elimination. East Stroudsburg, the fourth seed in the Eastern Division, improved to 35-15 and moves on to meet Mercyhurst on Thursday. The PSAC Tournament is being held at Slippery Rock's Jack Critchfield Park.

Gannon (29-15) entered the PSAC Tournament ranked second in the latest NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rankings which were released earlier in the day. The Golden Knights will now await word on an NCAA Tournament bid, with the announcement coming on Sunday night.

The Golden Knights found themselves trailing for much of the night but left-hander Eric Sapp (Deerfield, Ohio/Southeast) battled his way into the seventh. Trailing 3-1 entering the bottom of the sixth, Gannon knotted the score with a pair of runs.

Connor Rakow (Franklin, Pa./Franklin) was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and following an out, Miguel Vega (Florida, Puerto Rico/Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy) singled through the right side to put runners on first and second. They moved up on a passed ball, and Ian Hess (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. That brought Brandon Wetherholt (Gibsonia, Pa./Mars Area) to the plate, and the redshirt junior designated hitter drove a ground rule double to left center, scoring Rakow and Vega to tie the score. It signaled the end of the night for ESU starter Brent Francisco. Reliever Nate Fiala intentionally walked Kalbfus to load the bases, but got out of the jam with a pop out and a liner to right.

The Warriors grabbed the lead for good in the top of the seventh. Sapp started the inning and retired the first batter on a pop out. With the top of the order coming out, Sapp was relieved by relief ace Joseph Reitebach (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg). He was greeted by a single, retired the next batter for two outs, but could not get out unscathed. Brock Kauffman tripled to plate what would be the winning run, and following a walk, Anthony Torreullas singled to left center to give ESU a 5-3 lead.  

East Stroudsburg opened the scoring with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fourth. Sapp appeared to get out of the inning with a double play ground ball but the relay throw from second base was wild and Torreullas scored after reaching with a one-out double. Tommy Dunleavy followed with the second unearned run on a wild pitch.

Gannon got on the board in the bottom of the fifth with a run to cut the deficit to 2-1. Ryan Kalbfus (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) led off the inning with a ground rule double to straightaway center field on a 1-2 pitch. He was the first leadoff hitter to reach for the Golden Knights. Kalbfus advanced to third on a slow roller by Jorge Mejia (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Jose) and scored on Jared Bielanin's (Erie, Pa./McDowell) sacrifice fly to right on a 1-2 pitch.

ESU had an emphatic answer as Torreullas hit a home run down the left field line on a 3-2 pitch to lead off the top of the sixth.

Sapp battled all night long, departing after 6.1 innings and 115 pitches. He limited ESU to four hits and just one earned run while walking three and striking out five. Reitebach fell to 3-2 while taking the loss in relief.

East Stroudsburg finished with 12 hits while Gannon was limited to five. Kalbfus ended the night 2-for-3.
 
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