The Gannon University baseball team took three out of four games over the weekend against a tough Seton Hill team, in what was a pivotal series for PSAC West positioning.

The first game, which Gannon won 7-6 in extra innings, was a back-and-forth game that left everyone on the edge of their seats.

Seton Hill got off to a great start leading the Knights 5-1 after 3 ½ innings of play.

In the bottom of the fourth, Gannon slugger Brandon Wetherholt hit a tape measure shot to right field to get the Knights two runs closer, making it 5-3.

Those were the first two of five unanswered runs for Gannon.

Ian Hess grabbed an RBI knock in the fifth and Cameron Vozel ripped a two-run single with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth.

Vozel had a stellar day the plate with three hits in four tries, driving in two runs. He also drew a walk.

Heading into the final frame, Coach DJ Cannon elected to leave Deven Judy in the game even though Judy had allowed five runs over six innings.

The first pitch of the inning, Griffins center fielder Neal McDermott hit a solo homer to tie the game at 6.

Judy was able to record two outs before Joseph Reitebach came in to get the last one.

Gannon was unable to push a run across in the seventh, sending the game to extras.

After Reitebach held Seton Hill scoreless, Hess hit a sacrifice fly to center field to walk off game one of the two-game home set.

Hess went 2 for 4 with three RBIs.

Reitebach picked up the win (2-1) after tossing 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Nash Bryan for Seton Hill got the loss (3-4) after giving up one run over two innings of work.

In the next game, it was all Eric Sapp. The big Gannon lefty tossed a complete game giving up just two runs on a sixth inning homer.

Sapp also 13 fanned Griffins while allowing just two hits.

The Knights put up eight runs to complement the effort given by Sapp to improve to 7-0.

Five different Gannon players drove in a run, including the 2-for-4 effort by Ryan Kalbfus. He also drove in two runs.

For Seton Hill, Caiden Wood fell to 5-2 allowing four runs on two hits and four walks over just 3.1 innings.

The 8-2 victory gave the Knights the two-game home sweep.

*The next day, Gannon traveled to Greensburg to try winning the four-game set.

In the first game of two at Seton Hill, the Griffins led 2-0 after three innings, courtesy of RBI singles by McDermott and Vincenzo Rauso.

After Kalbfus got the Knights on the board with a RBI single in the fourth, Luke Callahan got into one in the fifth, and his two-run homer made it 3-2 Gannon.

The Knights got some insurance runs in the sixth and got the victory to clinch a series win, 5-2.

Jacob Visha (2-1) got the win for Gannon as he pitched five innings and allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out four.

For the Griffins, Andino Vecchiolla gave up three runs over 4 1/3 innings and fell to 3-1.

Reitebach picked up his second save of the season.

Game four of the series and the second in Greensburg was not so kind to the Knights.

Seton Hill got off to a great start again, going up 4-0 after four innings.

The exclamation point came in the fifth when Isaiah DiAndreth homered to left field making it 5-1.

Gannon didn’t have much in the way of offense in this one, as the Knights collected only four hits.

It was stellar pitching for the Griffins that propelled them.

Brandon Bergert improved to 2-0 on the season after throwing four innings, allowing zero earned runs and just two hits.

For the Knights, Carson Whiteman picked up the loss (1-3).

Whiteman only threw 1 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on two hits and three walks.

Gannon won three of four in the series and improved to 22-12 overall and 13-7 in PSAC play while Seton Hill fell to 24-14-1 and 10-10.

The series victory enabled the Knights to move into a tie for first place in the PSAC West with Slippery Rock and Mercyhurst.

Gannon, which dropped a 13-11 decision to Walsh Tuesday in a nonconference game, will take on IUP, which is just a game back at 12-8, at 1 p.m. Friday at UPMC Park for the first two of a four-game series.

The Knights will then travel to Indiana, Pa., for a doubleheader Saturday.

TIMOTHY CORSO

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