INDIANA, Pa. –
Ryan Uhl (St. Marys, Pa./St. Marys) hit two home runs and
Jordan Giannini (Latrobe/Greater Latrobe) had a walk-off single to help IUP to a doubleheader split with sixth-ranked Mercyhurst in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) baseball action on Saturday afternoon at Dougherty Field.
Both games went to extra innings as the Crimson Hawks defeated Mercyhurst 8-7 in a nine-inning game one and lost 12-9 in eight innings in game two.
Uhl finished the day 4-for-6 with his 20th and 21st homers of the year, those two doubles, and five runs batted in. He also walked four times, including two intentional walks.
Giannini's game-winning single came in the bottom of the ninth of the first game, slapping a ball through the left side with the bases loaded, bringing home
Zac LaNeve (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland). The inning started with Uhl just missing a walk-off homer, flying out deep to left. LaNeve then walked and moved to second on a wild pitch.
Jonathan O'Neill (Pittsburgh/Chartiers Valley) was then intentionally walked before
Rick Jones (New Castle/Laurel) reached on an error to load the bases. With the infield in, Giannini came up as a pinch hitter and delivered the clutch hit for the victory.
Uhl's first home run came in the first inning, smashing a solo shot to dead center. Mercyhurst, however, got on top of the Crimson Hawks early with five runs in the opening inning and took a 7-1 lead into the third.
IUP scored three runs in that third inning, highlighted by a one-run double off the bat of Uhl to make it a 7-4 ballgame. The Crimson Hawks continued their comeback in the fifth, getting back-to-back homers by Uhl and O'Neill to tie the game at 7-7.
Both teams had shots to score in the remaining innings before Giannini came through with the game-winner.
Hunter Bigler (Washington/Trinity) picked up his third win of the season by tossing the last 2.1 innings of relief, giving up just one hit. LaNeve was the first out of the bullpen for IUP, striking out three and scatting five hits in 4.2 innings of work.
There was scoring in each of the first five innings of game two, including runs by both teams in innings one, two and three. The Lakers held an 8-5 lead after those three innings, including a four-run first inning. The Crimson Hawks tied things up in the fourth with three runs, highlighted by a two-run single by
Wes Carson (Woodstock, Md./Marriots Ridge).
IUP took a 9-8 lead in the fifth on a ground-rule double off the bat of
Mike Lupia (Middletown/Middletown), scoring
Chris Schaedel (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) from first. The Lakers tied the game in the seventh on a one-out solo shot by Hank Morrison. They added three more in the top of the eighth inning and put the Crimson Hawks down in order in the bottom half to get the comeback win.
Justin Charles (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern York) took the loss in relief for IUP. The Crimson Hawks totaled 11 hits, including three by
Austin Mock (State College, Pa./State College) and two by
Rick Jones (New Castle/Laurel). Mock finished 3-for-4 with his 10th home run of the year and scored three runs.
IUP is now 17-18-1 overall on the year and is 1.5 games behind Slippery Rock for the final playoff spot with an 11-12-1 PSAC West record. The Crimson Hawks have just one conference series left this season, playing Gannon next weekend. First, they'll play host to Bloomsburg in a crossover doubleheader on Tuesday.
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk.
