he Gannon University baseball team had a particularly productive week, taking three out of four from Slippery Rock, gaining a tie for second place in the PSAC West, and tying the school record for wins in a single season.
And on the individual front, sophomore David Cricks was named the PSAC pitcher of the week.
The Knights swept a doubleheader from The Rock, 11-3 and 2-0, Saturday at McConnell Family Stadium, then split a doubleheader Monday at Slippery Rock.
Gannon, ranked No. 7 in the latest NCBWA Atlantic Regional poll, fell 22-5 in the first game but rebounded to win the second game, 7-2.
The Knights moved to 25-12 overall going into Friday’s 1 p.m. Senior Day doubleheader with Clarion at McConnell Family Stadium. The 25 wins ties the single-season victory mark set by the 2012 club.
The two teams will meet in a second twinbill Saturday in Clarion.
In Saturday’s first game against Slippery Rock, all of the starters recorded a hit.
The scoring started in the second inning with a solo home run from Chris Beer. In the third, the Knights expanded their lead to 5-0 when Jake Benack doubled home a run. After Nate Cardy’s sacrifice fly, sophomore Kyle Cox singled home a run.
Beer added an RBI double to finish out the inning.
In the fourth, Gannon extended the lead again. Benack drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single, followed by RBI singles from Cardy and Cox to make it 9-0.
In the fifth, the Knights added two runs. Mark DeVita drove in the first run with a triple and was driven home by Cardy.
With his appearance in the game, Jared Wiesen moved into Gannon’s all-time top 15 for games played with his 161st appearance.
In the 2-0 second-game win, Gannon scored its only two runs in the sixth inning. Nick Restuccia drew a nine-pitch bases-loaded walk to push the first run home, and John Davis hit a sacrifice fly to allow Cox to score the insurance run.
Cricks improved to 4-3 with six shutout innings, allowing only a single. He struck out five and walked two. Nico DiPaolo came into the game to toss a scoreless seventh inning and earned his fifth save of the season.
In the first game of Monday’s doubleheader, Gannon fell behind 14-0 and never threatened.
Wiesen hit a solo home run and a run-scoring single but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Cardy doubled home a run as well.
In game two, Cox singled home a run in the fourth. Then, in a very productive fifth inning, the scoring started early when Benack doubled and Cardy followed with an RBI single. Cardy scored on Beer’s sacrifice fly and Matt Oruch scored on a throwing error by the third baseman.
To close out the inning, Wiesen singled to drive in two runs and DeVita added a sacrifice fly.
Gannon holds down the fourth spot in the PSAC Western Division with eight regular-season games remaining, as the Knights are one game behind both Seton Hill and California (Pa.) for second place.
JORDAN FULLER
[email protected]
