Butler, Pa. - In an unscheduled match-up Tuesday night at Pullman Park, the Penn State Greater Allegheny baseball team posted a victory over CCAC-Boyce under the lights by a tally of 8-3.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Luke Padezan (Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) started on the mound for GA. In the bottom of the first inning, Greater Allegheny managed to put two on the board. Junior third baseman Clay Groff (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) reached second base on an error by the right-fielder. Senior catcher Troy Ambros (Pembroke Pines, Fla./West Broward) walked before he stole second base. A sophomore first baseman Joshua Arroyo (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Levittown Baptist Academy) single to left field brought in both Groff and Ambros, dropping the first two runs of the game.
Padezan struck out two batters in the next inning before Greater Allegheny came back up to the plate. Sophomore second-baseman Adam Jacko (North Versailles, Pa./East Allegheny) walked to first base before Groff ripped a triple, reigning in Jacko. Senior short-stop Aaron McGee (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford) singled up the middle to score Groff, putting Greater Allegheny ahead of Boyce, 4-0.
The next three innings went silent before the blue-and-white stepped back in the batters box. Jacko walked to first base before he stole second. Groff reached second on an error by the left fielder, pushing Jacko to score and put the home team ahead of CCAC-Boyce, 5-0.
In the bottom of the seventh, McGee walked to first base beore Ambros singled to right field before each of the runners advanced a base on wild pitch. Senior center fielder Gianmarco Concepcion (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Mercyhurst North East) reached on an error by the first baseman, scoring McGee. Arroyo sacrice flied out to center field to bat in Ambros, moving the score to 7-0. Sophomore designated hitter Mark Hollis (Pittbsurgh, Pa./North Hills) and senior left fielder Matt Klena (Allison Park, Pa./Shaler) were hit-by-pitch as Concepcion advanced on a wild pitch before he was pushed across home, GA now up 8-0.
CCAC-Boyce managed two runs in the top of the 8th inning, as the majority of the starting line-up had been substituted out of the game for the home team, putting Boyce on the board, 8-2.
Boyce marked one more in the top of the ninth, to finish the game in a 8-3 Greater Allegheny triumph.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Daniel Daly (Glassport, Pa./South Allegheny) finished out the game for Greater Allegheny on the mound, as he pitched two innings allowing two hits. Padezan earned his first win, as he threw seven innings with just one hit, sitting down twelve batters on strike-out.
Groff went 1-for-3 in the batters box, as he scored two himself, batting two more in. Arroyo went 1-for-2, pushing three batters across home plate. McGee hit 1-for-2 as he posted a run and an RBI through his innings played. Ambros posted two runs as he went 1-for-3 from the bag.
Greater Allegheny (8-4) looks forward to the weekend, as the men travel to Penn State Wilkes-Barre for their first Penn State University Athletic Conference match-up of the season. The PSUAC double-header is set for Sunday with a 12 p.m. first-pitch.
