Seton Hill hosted Gannon Saturday in a PSAC West doubleheader to complete their weekend series. After the Golden Knights rallied for a 5-3 win in game one, the Griffins posted a 5-2 victory in the nightcap to get back in the win column after a rough back-to-back weekend stretch.
The Griffins (24-14-1, 10-10) jumped out to a quick lead in the first inning when
Neal McDermott hit an RBI single. The lead grew to 2-0 in the third thanks to an RBI single by Vinny Rauso. Meanwhile, starter
Andino Vecchiolla cruised through the first three innings, as he didn't allow a hit and struck out three batters.
The Golden Knights (22-12, 13-7) finally dented the scoreboard for a run in the fourth inning and then grabbed the lead with a two-run homer in the fifth inning. Gannon tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch allowed another run to score to make a 5-2 count.
Seton Hill answered back with an
Owen Sabol RBI single to cut the deficit to 5-3 in the sixth. In the final frame, McDermott drew a two-out walk to bring the tying run to the plate but a fielder's choice took out the lead runner for the final out and the Knights had the win.
Although SHU outhit Gannon 8-7 in the game, all eight of Seton Hill's hits were singles, while Gannon had a homer and three doubles in their hit totals. A trio of Griffins managed two hits each in the opening game, including
Jack Oberdorf, McDermott and Sabol. Vecchiolla saw his record dip to 3-1 after throwing 4 1/3 innings and allowing three runs while posting five punchouts.
In game two, Seton Hill took the early lead again. In the second,
Isaiah DiAndreth stroked a leadoff single and after a walk and hit batter loaded the bases,
Max Mandler lofted a sac fly to plate the first run of the game. The Griffins had another bases-loaded situation in the third, as walks to Oberdorf and Sabol were sandwiched around a McDermott single to fill the bases. With two outs,
Drew Garth delivered a clutch two-run single through the left side to score a pair that swelled the SHU margin to 3-0.
Another Griffin run came across in the fourth when Mandler laced a triple into the right-center gap and Oberdorf brought him in with a ground out for a 4-0 lead. Seton Hill starter
Brandon Bergert was making that lead stand, as he posted four scoreless innings to open the game. Gannon managed to push across their first run in the fifth with the aid of a SHU error to trim the Griffin lead to 4-1.
That lead quickly went back to four the next half-inning when DiAndreth mashed a no-doubt solo home run to left, his third long ball of the season, and it was 5-1 advantage. The Griffins turned to their bullpen to finish the game off, as
Blake Barker threw 2 1/3 solid innings into the seventh. After the Knights scored once in the seventh,
Payton Faris came in and had a pair of strikeouts to end the game and Seton Hill's seven-game losing streak. Bergert improved to 2-0 with the win after throwing 4+ innings and allowing one unearned run on two hits and striking out four.
DiAndreth led the work with the bats, as he had two hits, including the homer, scored two runs and stole a base as well.
Seton Hill will be back on the diamond Tuesday for a single non-conference game that is scheduled to be played at West Liberty beginning at 3 pm
