McKeesport, Pa. - With a set of games ending in tallies of 17-7 and 15-0, the Penn State Greater Allegheny baseball team overthrew Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) adversary, Penn State Hazleton, Sunday afternoon, improving their overall record to 14-4, 4-0 PSUAC.
Through the first inning of game one, Hazleton managed to notch three runs off of a single hit to go up a quick 3-0 over GA. To open Greater Allegheny's first at bat, junior third baseman Clay Groff (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) and senior shortstop Aaron McGee (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford) walked to cover the first two bases. Senior catcher Troy Ambros (Pembroke Pines, Fla./West Broward) singled before senior center-fielder Gianmarco Concepcion (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Mercyhurst North East) walked to push Groff to score. Sophomore first baseman Joshua Arroyo (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Levittown Baptist Academy) hammered a double to push all three runners on base to score, Greater Allegheny now ahead 4-3.
Aside from a senior right-fielder Matt Klena (Allison Park, Pa./Shaler Area) walk and a sophomore second baseman Adam Jacko (North Versailles, Pa./East Allegheny) bunt single, sophomore left-fielder Mark Hollis (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) singled to bat in Arroyo, 5-3 GA to close the first inning.
Hazleton sat down one-two-three before Greater Allegheny came back up to the plate. McGee was hit-by-pitch before he stole second. Ambros tripled to bat home McGee before Concepcion singled to score Ambros. Concepcion was pushed to third off of a sophomore designated hitter Francisco Del Rio (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico / Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy) single and an Arroyo fly out. Despite Del Rio caught stealing, Concepcion scored to put Greater Allegheny ahead 8-3.
A new pitcher on the mound came in for Hazleton to start the bottom of the fourth inning. Concepcion walked to base as Arroyo singled up the middle to move Concepcion to third base before he stole home to put GA up six runs over Hazleton.
The top of the fifth inning saw four hits and four runs for the away team to put Greater Allegheny at a narrow 8-7 advantage to go into the bottom of the fifth. Hazleton underwent two pitching changes through the inning. Jacko doubled to left center before Hollis walked to fill the two bases. Groff singled to right field to bat home Jacko before McGee singled to center field, batting home Hollis. Concepcion singled to fill the bases as Arroyo sacrific flied out to center field, batting home Groff. Junior pinch hitter John Nusser (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brashear) singled to bat in both Concepcion and McGee, Greater Allegheny leading Hazleton 14-7.
Greater Allegheny's defense allowed Hazleton to get just one hit in the top of the sixth inning before GA came back to the batter's box to close the game. Jacko singled to right field before he stole second base. Groff singled before he advanced home on a set of fielding errors, pushing Jacko home as well. Ambros tripled to right field before Concepcion singled to left-center field, pushing Ambros to notch the 17th and tenth run over Hazleton to take game one 17-7 after six innings of action.
As a team, Greater Allegheny out-hit Hazleton by a margin of 18-6 through the first battle through their 30 at bats. Concepcion went 3-for-3 at the plate, scoring four runs himself while batting in three others. Jacko batted 3-for-4 from the box as he scored twice for the Lions. Arroyo batted home four runs as he posted one himself, going 2-for-3 at the plate. Ambros hit 3-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI as Groff put up three runs and a run batted in, hitting 2-for-4.
Emes posted his third win on the mound, as the senior allowed just one hit through four innings of action. The right-hander saw 17 batters, throwing 53 pitches, 32 being right over the plate. McGee closed the game with 19 strikes on 24 pitches over six batters faced.
Game two picked up right where the Greater Allegheny Lions left off. The GA defense took down the first three Hazleton batters on ground-outs before the offense came back to bat. Groff slammed a double to right field before he advanced to third on a wild pitch. McGee walked to first before Ambros grounded out to move Groff to score the first run of the game. Arroyo doubled to center field to bat home McGee. Klena was hit-by-pitch to take his base before Nusser came in to pinch run. Freshman right fielder Terance Wroniak (Pittsburgh, Pa./Carrick) singled to bat in Arroyo before Nusser stole home, Greater Allegheny leading Hazleton 4-0.
Two hits were allowed in the top of the second inning before the Lions were back up to bat. McGee was hit-by-pitch before Ambros doubled to right field. Concepcion singled before advancing to second on an error, batting home McGee. Arroyo singled to bat home both Concepcion and Ambros, GA ahead 7-0. Klena singled to center field before Nusser came back in to pinch run. Jacko was walked to fill the Greater Allegheny bases with just one out on the board. Both Hollis and Groff were walked to score two runs, leading to a Hazleton pitching change. McGee singled to right field to bat in Jacko before Hollis stole home. Concepcion bunt singled to fill the bases as an Arroyo walk pushed Groff to score. Klena reached second on errors, batting both McGee and Concepcion to score, Greater Allegheny now ahead a staggering 14-0 over their conference foe.
Jacko doubled to center field to open the bottom of the third inning as Groff doubled to left field, scoring Jacko and marking the 15th Greater Allegheny run of the second contest. The rest of the game went scoreless as the game ended after the top of the fifth inning due to ten-run rule.
Greater Allegheny out-hit Hazleton 14-4 through the second bout as Greater Allegheny posted their second shut-out victory of the season. Klena pitched five innings, allowing four hits and three strike-outs over 20 batters.
Groff went 2-for-3 as he posted two runs while batting two others home. Arroyo went 2-for-2 at the plate, as he batted home four runs and two runs scored himself. Concepcion batted 2-for-3 as he posted two runs and one RBI. Through the game, Greater Allegheny's offense produced 16 batters in white.
Through the set of Penn State University Athletic Conference match-ups, the Greater Allegheny offense exploded with 32 runs posted over ten innings of action. With the wins, Greater Allegheny improves their overall record to a perfect 4-0 in the PSUAC alongside an overall standing of 14-4.
The Greater Allegheny Lions are set to travel to Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Tuesday afternoon. The double-header is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
