McKeesport, Pa. – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Baseball Team (5-8, 2-1) looks to continue their recent string of success when they battle the #16 team in all of NAIA in the Point Park Pioneers (25-2, 15-1) on Wednesday. After starting the year 3-7, PSUGA has bounced back over the last week winning two out of their last three games.
They are coming off of a split of a doubleheader vs. PSU-DuBois where they dropped the first game 6-3 in extra innings and came back to win the night cap 5-4. PSUGA now sits at 2-1 in conference play and currently finds themselves in third place in the Penn State University Athletic Conference Western Division.
Game 1 of the doubleheader was a nail bitter with the teams tied at two for a majority of the contest. Luke Padezan (Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) pitched well giving up just two earned runs through the first seven innings of play. However, DuBois would find their opening in the top of the eighth when they plated four runs. PSUGA would get one back in the bottom half on an RBI single by Josh Arroyo (Tao Alta, Puerto Rico/Levittown Baptist Academy), but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback.
PSUGA would then fall behind early in game two as PSU-DuBois fired off four runs in the top of the first to get out to a 4-0 lead. However, Marcos Lopez (Caglas, Puerto Rico/Ramsey) would settle in throwing four straight scoreless innings to keep his team in the ball game. After scoring two runs in the bottom of the 2nd and a run to start the bottom of the fifth to bring the score to 4-3, Dylan Ernst (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) came through in the clutch delivering an RBI single, his 10th RBI of the season, to bring the score back even at four.
David West (Hempfield, Pa./Hempfield) came in to throw the final two innings and earned his first collegiate win thanks to a run in the bottom of the 6th that gave PSUGA the lead for good. West allowed just one hit over his two innings of work while walking one and striking out one. He now moves to 1-1 on the season and dropped his ERA nearly seven points.
PSUGA got big contributions from the middle of their lineup as Ernst and Arroyo combined to hit .545 (6-11) with 2 RBI. They have been the leaders in terms of run production all season long as Ernst leads the team with 10 RBI with Arroyo right behind him at 7 RBI. The middle of the lineup has been able to drive home runs all season long and that will be key to the team’s success moving forward.
Point Park enters the game riding high on a 7-game win streak and are currently the #16 ranked team according to the NAIA Top 25 poll. They are coming off of an 11-1 win over Ohio Christian University where they rode a six-run top of the third inning to victory. Cole and Jake Horew each came through big combining to go 2-8 with six RBI.
Point Park has dominated the matchup since the 2010-2011 season with a record of 8-1 against PSUGA. The lone win for PSUGA came all the way back in 2011 when they beat them 7-2 in a season that saw them go all the way to the 2011 USCAA Small College World Series Championships. Their last matchup came on March 16th 2016 when Point Park picked up an 11-1 win.
First Pitch for Wednesday’s game is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. and will be played at Wild Things Park in Washington, PA. You can watch the game live by going to bit.ly/PSUGAYT and following along with our livestream.
