JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Gannon baseball team definitely went down with a fight. The Golden Knights scored a game-tying four runs during the top of the ninth inning, before falling 6-5 against Millersville on a two-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the frame Thursday afternoon at the 2013 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament hosted by Point Stadium in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Gannon rallied from a 5-0 deficit against PSAC Eastern Division Pitcher of the Year and TCU transfer Chris Murphy during its final two at-bats. The sophomore was attempting to pitch his third no-hitter of the season after not allowing a hit through 7 2/3 innings.
Shayne Herold (LeRoy, N.Y./LeRoy) broke up the no-no in the eighth with a two-out double into the left center gap. He moved to third on
Bob Roach's (Erie, Pa./McDowell) bunt single. With
Dylan Schwegler (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell Area) at bat, Roach was picked off first base but Herold raced across the plate a split second before Roach was tagged out for Gannon's first run.
Matt Wilwohl (Erie, Pa./McDowell) set the PSAC Eastern Division regular-season champions down without a run for the fifth consecutive inning in the bottom of the eighth, setting up a frantic final inning.
Schwegler led off the top of the ninth with an infield single, before
Jeff Bellanca (Grand Island, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) and
Taylor Anderson (Niagara Falls, Ontario/A.N. Myer Secondary) were hit by pitches. With Gannon down to its last out,
Nico Baldelli ripped a ball down the right field line that appeared to plate at least three runs with him also racing home when the first base umpire ruled a controversial dead ball and a ground-rule double. The call put the tying runs on second and third with a 5-3 Millersville lead.
Millersville countered with closer Adam Zipko, but
Aaron Cox (Dorchester, N.J./Millville) promptly greeted him with a two-run single to right center that tied the game at five after a long at-bat.
Wilwohl then began his sixth inning of work with a four-pitch walk to Tyler Orris, who barely slid into second ahead of the strong throw by Bellanca on a stolen base. Bellanca was playing his fourth position of the tournament after
Eric Bradley (Mount Pleasant, Pa./Mount Pleasant) pinch ran for Baldelli in the top of the inning. Orris proceeded to third after Evan King's sacrifice bunt.
Head coach
Nate Cocolin entered
Mark DeVita (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) at that time and went to a five-man infield with Schwegler and Herold covering the entire infield. Wilwohl kept the winning run at third by striking out Jeremy Musser looking. But PSAC Eastern Division Player of the Year Zach Stone followed with a two-out, walk-off single just out of the reach of a diving Herold in right center to give the Marauders a 6-5 victory.
Many at Point Stadium has no thoughts of the late-inning dramatics for the majority of the afternoon. Murphy was dazzling, no-hitting Gannon through 7 2/3 innings. Meanwhile, the Marauders jumped to a 5-0 lead through three innings despite only producing two hits during that time frame. Both of those hits came during a three-run first inning. The squad added two more runs in the third on three hit by pitches and two walks.
Wilwohl was the unsung hero despite being tagged with the loss. The redshirt freshman came out of the pen early after Millersville knocked the Gannon starter out of the game within three innings. Wilwohl allowed only the winning run through 5 2/3 innings of relief work. He gave up five hits, struck out four and walked one. The right-hander retired 12 of 14 hitters during his first four innings on the mound.
Gannon's season came to a close at 24-19 overall. The Golden Knights concluded one of the best seasons in school history that included the program's first-ever divisional crown. The program has recorded at least 24 overall victories and at least 14 league wins during each of the last two seasons, qualifying for the PSAC Tournament both years. Millersville improved to 38-15 and advanced to face West Chester during Thursday's final game of the day.
