GA Baseball Holds Brandywine to Zero in PSUAC Championships

Mont Alto, Pa. - The Penn State Greater Allegheny men's baseball team takes a 5-0 triumph over Penn State Brandywine, Saturday afternoon, not only advancing their overall record to 30-9, 22-0 PSUAC, but also taking their second consecutive Penn State University Athletic Conference Championship.

Greater Allegheny was first on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Both junior infielder Aaron McGee (Harrison City, Pa./Penn Trafford) and senior infielder Adam Wehr (Orefield, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) singled to the left side, putting runners on first and second. Freshman designated hitter Francisco Del Rio (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy) singled to right field, batting in Wehr to take a Greater Allegheny 1-0 lead.

GA notched another in the bottom of the third, as the away team found themselves with bases loaded after the first three batters. Junior catcher Troy Ambros (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./West Browar) reached on an error by the catcher, scoring sophomore outfielder Jose Pablo Bonilla (Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico/Academia Santa Maria).

Brandywine got out one, two, three in the top of the fourth before GA added two more in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore infielder Tommy Williams (Harrison City, Pa./Penn Trafford) singled up the middle before McGee singled to center field and each of them advancing a base on a wild pitch. Wehr went on to reach first on an error by the second baseman, scoring Williams. Bonilla next hammered a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing in McGee and advancing the Greater Allegheny lead over Brandywine, 4-0.

Ambros got on base by bunt in the bottom of the fifth, before sophomore Bill Carter (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) came in to courtesy run. Williams singled to left field, batting in Carter and capping off the scoring summary for Greater Allegheny, 5-0. 

Senior right-handed pitcher Braedon Pennington (Punxsutawney, Pa./Mercyhurst) pitched in all seven innings of action, allowing just four hits and sitting down six batters on strike-outs in his sixth win on the mound. Pennington saw 26 batters, throwing 61 strikes in 85 pitches.

Williams went 3-for-3 at the plate, scoring one run himself while batting another in. McGee went 2-for-4 at the plate, crossing home plate twice. Wehr also went 2-for-4, batting one run in. The Greater Allegheny offense capitalized on 11 hits on 29 at bats, lifting their efforts in taking their 30th victory on the season.

With the victory, Greater Allegheny is the Penn State University Athletic Conference regular season champions for the second season in a row. Completing a perfect 22-0 season through conference play, Greater Allegheny is moving onward to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association's World Series in Springfield, Illinois.