Vero Beach, Fla. - The Penn State Greater Allegheny baseball team ended their 2014-15 spring break trip with a 9-4 victory over United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) familiar foe, Bridgewater State, Saturday morning.
Bridgewater State came out hard in the top of the first inning, notching four hits and noting two runs, Greater Allegheny already behind 2-0 before even coming to the batter's box.
Senior shortstop Aaron McGee (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford) singled to get on base before senior third baseman Troy Ambros (Pembroke Pines, Fla./West Broward) and senior center fielder Gianmarco Concepcion (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Mercyhurst North East) walked to fill the bases. With a series of a balk and a wild pitch, both McGee and Ambros were pushed to home plate, tying the tally at two. With a sophomore first baseman Joshua Arroyo (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Levittown Baptist Academy) single, Concepcion scored, moving Greater Allegheny ahead of Bridgewater, 3-2, after the first inning.
Bridgewater sent in a new pitcher to start the bottom of the second inning to go back to the top of the batting order. McGee walked to first base before Ambros was hit by a pitch, filling the first two bags. Concepcion was back at the plate as he singled to move each runner two bases, advancing McGee to home plate. Concepcion stole second before reaching third base on a throwing error by the catcher, scoring Ambros and putting GA up 5-2. Arroyo hammered another single to bat in Concepcion to keep the score flowing.
Sophomore catcher Francisco Del Rio (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy) singled before senior pitcher Matt Klena (Allison Park, Pa./Shaler Area) singled, filling the bases. Junior second baseman John Nusser (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brashear) hammered a sacrafice fly out to center-field, pushing Arroyo to home. At the conclusion of the second inning, Greater Allegheny was leading Bridgewater State, 7-2.
Klena allowed just one hit in the top of the third before GA managed more runs in the bottom of the inning. Junior right-fielder Clay Groff (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) reached first on a dropped fly by the left-fielder before he moved to second on an error. With a McGee sacrifice bunt, Groff moved to third base. Ambros cranked a triple to bring home Groff, adding yet another tally for GA. Concepcion then grounded out to bring home Ambros, capping off the scoring tally for the Greater Allegheny Lions at nine.
The two teams continued to battle until the top of the sixth inning, when Bridgewater managed to denote two more tallies off three hits, moving the score to a 9-4 GA showout.
Klena pitched a little over seven innings to earn his first win on the mound as sophomore right-handed pitcher Daniel Daly (Glassport, Pa./South Allegheny) came in to earn his first save of the season. While Klena let up just four runs on 12 hits, Daly allowed just one hit with a walk.
The GA offense knocked ten hits on 31 at bat's, notching nine runs. Nusser went 1-for-2 at the plate with one RBI as McGee went 1-for-1 with two runs scored. Concepcion finished the game going 1-for-2, as he slashed two runs himself with two more batted in.
Greater Allegheny (5-3) goes back to Pittsburgh to take a few day rest to get the regular season underway. The men are set to travel to Point Park University, Wednesday afternoon, for a scheduled double-header. The first contest is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch, followed by an approximate 4 p.m. second game.
