THE GAME FACTS
Game One: Gannon 10, Lock Haven 1
Game Two: Gannon 6, Lock Haven 5
Records: Gannon (23-21, 16-10 PSAC West) | Lock Haven (8-38, 4-22 PSAC West)
Location: McConnell Family Stadium
ERIE, PA - Gannon swept past Lock Haven on Thursday to conclude the home slate of the regular season. The Golden Knights ended the year with an impressive 12-4 record at McConnell Family Stadium and improved to 16-10 in conference play.
With the sweep, GU keeps pace with IUP for the second seed in the PSAC West. The Crimson Hawks also won both games today against UPJ, meaning Gannon will need to win both games tomorrow and hope for an IUP/UPJ sweep. GU can also clinch the second seed with a split and two IUP losses.
KNIGHT CAP - GAME ONE
- Hood Hums: Ryan Hood (Latrobe, Pa./Derry Area) earned the win after tossing five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while striking out four.
- Early Lead: Gannon got on the board in the second when Dom Costello (North Olmsted, Ohio/North Olmsted) scored on a sacrifice fly from Cainen Atherton (Mount Union, Pa./Mount Union Area).
- He Just Keeps Hitting: Matt Smith (Duncansville, Pa./Hollidaysburg Area) launched a two-run homer in the third inning to push the lead to 3-0.
- Huge Fourth: The Golden Knights erupted for seven runs in the fourth, highlighted by RBI hits from Atherton, Hunter Troiano (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seneca Valley), Wes Parker (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township), and Costello.
- Balanced Offense: Gannon finished with 10 runs on 12 hits, with seven different players recording at least one hit.
- Big Bats: Matt Smith (Duncansville, Pa./Hollidaysburg Area) drove in three runs, while Wes Parker (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) and Cainen Atherton (Mount Union, Pa./Mount Union Area) each added two RBIs.
KNIGHT CAP - GAME TWO
- Quick Start: Connor Smith (Sewickley, Pa./North Allegheny) scored in the first inning on a sacrifice fly from Matt Smith (Duncansville, Pa./Hollidaysburg Area) to give Gannon an early 1-0 lead.
- Responds to Adversity: After Lock Haven grabbed a 3-1 advantage in the third, Gannon answered with two runs in the bottom half on RBI singles from Wes Parker (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) and Ian Soto (Florida, Puerto Rico/Academia Cristiana de Manati).
- Back in Front: Parker added another RBI single in the fourth before Cainen Atherton (Mount Union, Pa./Mount Union Area) delivered a two-run double in the fifth to make it 6-3.
- Timely Offense: Gannon totaled 6 runs on 9 hits, with five different players recording RBIs.
- Top Performers: Wes Parker (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs, while Ian Soto (Florida, Puerto Rico/Academia Cristiana de Manati) finished 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
- Closing it Out: Brady Berdine (Warren, Pa./Warren Area) recorded the save with two innings of relief, helping Gannon withstand Lock Haven's two-run sixth inning.
UP NEXT
With much still to play for, Gannon will travel to Lock Haven for a Friday doubleheader to close the regular season. The games will start at 1 and 3:30 pm.
This story was written using the support of AI.
