Myrtle Beach, SC – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Baseball Team (0-2, 0-0) could not get their offense going until the seventh inning and fell to Chatham (2-3, 0-0) 6-1 on Tuesday to kick off their week in Myrtle Beach. Chatham was able to score runs early and used their pitching to hold on for the win.
After having just two hits through the first six innings of play, PSUGA saw some life in the top of the seventh when Zach Pollack (Cecil, Pa./Cannon-McMillan) started the inning off with a single. Two batters later, Pedro Escobar (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico/Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy) and Caleb Smith (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) each singled to put runners at first and third with two outs.
Brian Koglin (Fox Chapel, Pa./Fox Chapel) would then delivered with his first RBI of the season driving the ball back up the middle and allowing Pollack to come in to score. The game would then end on a fielder’s choice giving Chatham the 6-1 victory and handing PSUGA their second loss of the season.
Chatham jumped out to an early lead scoring three runs in the bottom of the second off PSUGA starter Luke Padezan (Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward). They would add another run in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Drew Brannon to push the lead to 4-0. They would score their final two runs of the game in the bottom of the sixth on back-to-back two out RBI hits to extend the lead to 6-0.
Padezan went the complete six innings giving up six runs on 12 hits while walking one and not striking anyone out. He is coming off of his best season in a PSUGA uniform going 5-4 with a team low 4.28 ERA. He made his 2018 season debut and is one of two senior leaders on the pitching staff looking to lead the staff throughout the season.
Pollack continues to have a hot start to the season going 2-3 with a run scored securing his second multi-hit game of the season. Escobar finished the day 2-2 and Smith followed right behind them going 1-3. The offense as a whole accumulated six hits, however, they did not collect an extra base hit on the day.
PSUGA continues their week in Myrtle Beach with doubleheader action on Wednesday. They will face a familiar foe in Penn State Hazleton with game one scheduled for 3 p.m. and game two scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Cal Ripken Experience.