Seton Hill hosted second seeded Mercyhurst on Sunday afternoon in the first two games of the best of three PSAC Semifinals.
The Griffins used two three run bombs as game winning hits as they erased two Mercyhurst leads to rally in both games of a doubleheader sweep of the Lakers to advance to the PSAC Finals. SHU trailed 4-1 in game one but scored five times in the bottom of the fifth inning as they rallied for a 7-4 win in game one. The Griffins then trailed 3-2 heading to the ninth of game two but scored four times for a 6-3 come from behind win in game two. Seton Hill improves to 34-4 while the Lakers fall to 27-15 overall.
Griffin starter
Ben Vicini was nearly unhittable for the first four innings of game one as he retired all twelve batters he faced, including striking out the first six hitters he faced. Laker starter Mike McDonough was nearly as unhittable as the Griffins only managed one base runner, a
Jack Oberdorf walk, in the first three innings.
Seton Hill scored first in game one in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs,
Derek Orndorff singled and stole second.
Tanner Froehlich was hit by a pitch.
Jordan Fiedor followed with an RBI single to center field that gave the Griffins a 1-0 lead.
Mercyhurst scored four times in the top of the fifth inning, the last three runs coming in on a two out bases clearing double, to take a 4-1 lead. That lead did not last long as the Griffins responded with five runs in their half of the fifth.
Vincenzo Rauso singled to lead off the inning and
Canice Ejoh was hit by a pitch to put two runners on.
Owen Sabol singled thru the left side to knock in Rauso and cut the lead to 4-2. After a pop out,
Isaiah DiAndreth singled to right field to score Ejoh and tie the game at three. Orndorff then connected with a 0-1 pitch and launched a no doubter over the left center field wall to give the Griffins a 6-4 lead.
SHU added an insurance run in the sixth inning. With two outs, Ejoh tripled and scored on a Sabol base hit as SHU took a 7-4 lead.
In the ninth, the Lakers got the tying run to the plate but SHU closer
Nash Bryan got a strikeout to end the game and give SHU a 1-0 lead in the best of three series.
Peyton Reesman worked 3.2 scoreless innings to improve to 4-0 on the season. He gave up just one hit while striking out seven. Bryan struck out two to earn his third save.
Sabol, DiAndreth and Orndorff each had two hits in the win.
In game two, the Griffins struck for two runs in the top of the second inning. With two outs,
Jordan Fiedor singled and stole second. He scored on a
Tyler Peterson double to the gap. Ejoh followed with an RBI single to center field to extend the SHU lead to 2-0.
The Lakers used a one out homer in the second and a leadoff homer in the fifth inning to tie the game at two.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Lakers hit another solo homer to take a 3-2 lead over the Griffins.
Down to their final three outs, the Griffins responded like they have all season when trailing. Sabol drew a leadoff walk. He stole second and moved to third on a throwing error. Three pitches later, Sabol scored on a
Tommy Pellis sacrifice fly to tie the game at three. DiAndreth and Rauso singled around a pop up to put runners on firat and third with two outs, setting the stage for some Griffin heroics. On a 1-0 pitch, Oberdorf connected on a slider and drove it over the left center field wall to drive in three runs and give the Griffins a 6-3 advantage.
Bryan retired the Lakers 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth, the final out on a strikeout to send the Griffins to the PSAC finals.
Cade Negley earned the win in relief.
Jon McCullough was great out of the pen as well. He worked 3.2 innings, giving up just the one solo homer while striking out six. Bryan earned his second save of the day with the perfect ninth.
Rauso and Fiedor each had three hits for the Griffins.
Seton Hill will now host the winner of the Bloomsburg and Millersville PSAC Semifinal series. Bloomsburg leads the series 1-0 after a 7-6 win in game one. Game two and three will be played in Millersville beginning at 11 AM.
