Hampton, Va. - Through seven innings of hard-fought action, the Penn State Greater Allegheny baseball team dropped to Illinois Tech, Friday afternoon, by a tally of 1-0 in the semi-final match of the winner's bracket in the 2015 United States Collegiate Athletic Association Baseball National Championship - Small College World Series.
Due to the great defense by both Greater Allegheny and Illinois Tech, neither team managed to get more than one hit per inning until Greater Allegheny was able to get two hits in the top of the seventh.0
Senior shortstop Aaron McGee (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford) and sophomore first baseman Joshua Arroyo (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Levittown Baptist Academy) dropped a single each in the first and second inning of the game as sophomore left-fielder Mark Hollis (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) singled to right field in the third inning.
Sophomore designated hitter Francisco Del Rio (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy) singled to right field in the fifth as sophomore second baseman Adam Jacko (North Versailles, Pa./East Allegheny) singled to left-center in the sixth inning.
The top of the seventh inning, still scoreless, began with a senior right-fielder Gianmarco Concepcion (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Mercyhurst North East) bunt single to third base before Del Rio singled up the middle, advancing Concepcion to second. This would be the closest Greater Allegheny got to tallying a run, as the seventh inning expired.
Two walks and a single filled the Illinois Tech game in the bottom of the seventh inning as IT's Andrew Lamkin reached on a fielder's choice, stopping a run at home with an out. The next batter for Illinois Tech, Kyle Bumpass, also reached on an error, scoring Matthew Bishop unearned, Illinois Tech ahead of Greater Allegheny 1-0.
Del Rio went 2-for-3 as Jacko hit 1-for-2. McGee, Concepcion, Arroyo and Hollis all went 1-for-3 in the batter's box to contribute to the Greater Allegheny offense. The Greater Allegheny defense allowed just four hits on 22 at bats, letting up just one run.
Senior right-handed pitcher Eddie Emes (New Brighton, Pa./New Brighton) threw a complete game as he pitched 6 2/3 innings as he faced 26 batters. On 84 pitches, the senior threw 55 strikes, sitting down six on strike-out. He let up just four hits through the contest with just two bases on balls.
With the 1-0 loss, Penn State Greater Allegheny (32-8) is still alive in this tournament as they will face the Apprentice School, Saturday afternoon at 11:00 a.m. You are able to follow live stats for the game here.
