Seton Hill opened PSAC West play on Friday afternoon in Erie against preseason favorite Mercyhurst. The Griffins used a strong effort on the mound from
Perry DellaValle in a 2-1 game one victory. SHU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game two but gave up 2 runs in each of the last two innings as the Lakers walked off the Griffins by a 4-3 score. SHU is now 13-5 overall and 1-1 in PSAC West play.
The Griffins took a 1-0 lead in game one with a leadoff homer from
Zac Heide in the second inning. SHU added on in the third inning. After an out,
Garret Vrbanic drew a walk. He moved to second on a single from
Tyler Sullivan. Both runners then moved up on a wild pitch.
Anthony Fanelli followed with a RBI single to increase the Griffins lead to 2-0. Mercyhurst cut the lead in half with an unearned run in the bottom of the third inning.
Perry DellaValle earned his third win of the season. He went the distance, giving up one run (unearned) on four hits while striking out nine.
Anthony Fanelli was the lone Griffin with two hits.
Seton Hill again jumped on the scoreboard first in game two. Sullivan led off the game with a single, stole second and moved to third on an error. Fanelli drew a walk with Sullivan scoring on a passed ball. After a foul out,
Chris Miller doubled to drive in Fanelli to give SHU a 2-0 lead. Griffin starter
Mike Bittel was perfect through three innings. SHU added on in the fourth. With one out
Mark Colella struck out but reached on a wild pitch. He moved to second on a wild pitch and third on an error. Colella scored on an infield hit from Vrbanic to increase the SHU lead to 3-0. The Lakers got their first hit of the game with a leadoff infield single in the bottom of the fourth but Bittel retired the next three hitters.
Mercyhurst cut into the Griffins lead in the sixth. The Lakers drew a one out walk and after a double and a triple, cut the lead to 3-2. SHU went 1-2-3 in each of their final three at bats. The Lakers then won the game in the seventh. After a leadoff single,
Jesse Cooper replaced Bittel on the mound. Mercyhurst sacrificed the tying run to second with a bunt and Cooper hit the next hitter to put runners on first and second with one out. A groundout to first moved the winning run to second base with two outs. The Lakers then walked off the Griffins with a two RBI single up the middle on a 2-1 pitch.
Jesse Cooper suffered the loss in relief. No Griffin had more than one hit as they were limited to just four hits.
The teams will complete the four game set with a doubleheader at Seton Hill on Saturday starting at 12 PM.
