McKeesport, PA. – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Baseball Team (13-13, 10-4) punched their ticket to the Penn State University Athletic Conference Playoff Tournament when they swept the season series with Penn State New Kensington over the weekend. Offense ruled the series with the team combining to score 43 runs between the three games while only allowing New Kensington to put nine on the board.
The series started with a doubleheader on Saturday when Matt Givler (Coatesville, PA./Coatesville) took the mound for the game one start. New Kensington jumped out to the lead early scoring four runs between the first and second inning. Givler would then calm down with 1, 2, 3 innings in the third and fourth to allow his team to make the comeback and grab the victory.
Josh Arroyo (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Levittown Baptist Academy) jump started the offense with his second home run of the season and finished 2-4 with the home run, a double, and four RBI. PSUGA scored seven runs in the fourth and fifth innings to implement the 10-run rule and take game one of Saturday’s doubleheader.
Game two of the doubleheader saw PSUGA jump out to the early lead putting up a five spot in the top of the first inning thanks to three straight hits with runners in scoring position and a two RBI single for Hunter Hughes (Murrysville, PA./Franklin Regional) The five runs were the most runs scored in the first inning of a game all season long for PSUGA.
The early run support was more than enough for starter Marcos Lopez (Caglas, Puerto Rico/Ramey) who pitched three innings giving up one run on two hits while walking one and striking out two. Lopez has now allowed just one earned run over his last eight innings of work on just five hits over his last two starts.
PSUGA put up 13 runs combined between the last two innings of play and led 19-1 heading to the bottom of the fourth. New Kensington would rally to put five on the board in the bottom of the fourth, but the fifteen-run rule was in place and PSUGA earned a sweep of the first two games of the series. PSUGA entered Sunday’s game three of the series looking to sweep the series and set up a showdown for the first round of the PSUAC Playoffs.
They would do just that in game three picking up a 10-0 win and moving to 10-4 in conference play. After being held at bay for the first two innings, PSUGA broke through in the bottom of the 3rd when Adam Jacko (North Versailles, PA./East Allegheny) reached on an error and Lopez came around to score to make it a 1-0 game.
PSUGA continued to pile on from there scoring five in the bottom of the fourth and four in the bottom of the sixth to collect the 10-0 victory. Luke Padezan (Elizabeth, PA./Elizabeth Forward) and Daniel Daly (Glassport, PA./South Allegheny) each pitched scoreless innings to start the game before Zack Craven (McKeesport, PA./McKeesport) finished the final five innings not allowing a run on just one hit while walking one and striking out six.
With the series sweep, PSUGA now sets up for a huge matchup on Monday when they take on PSU-Mont Alto to see who will host the first round of the PSUAC Playoff Tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at Pullman Park in Butler, PA.
