[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ theme_builder_area=”post_content” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
It’s beginning to look like an historic season for Pitt State Baseball, as the team is off to a blistering hot 10-0 start, breaking the previous school record of 9-0. The #6 Gorillas have been mopping the floor with opposing teams so far, with their closest game being a 6-4 win, while the other nine have been wins of at least five or more.
“Our guys have done a really good job in all three phases, head coach Brock Buckingham said. “We’ve hit it really good, we’ve pitched it really good, and we played outstanding defense. All the credit goes to our staff and players.”
Pitt State hosted the Maryville University Saints this weekend for a three game homestand, and the results were right in line with the rest of the season. Pitt State’s first homestand started with a 13-3 win in just eight innings, as the Gorillas got off a 6-0 lead in the third inning thanks to a pair of three run innings. The Gorillas would continue to pile on the points, only being held scoreless in the second and fifth innings.
Senior Preston Giltner limited the Saints to one run on four hits over 5.0 innings of work. He registered three strikeouts. Junior Bradyn McClure got the final nine outs to pick up a save. Junior Eric Bacon collected three of the Gorillas’ 12 hits in the contest. He tripled, scored three times and drove in a pair of runs. Senior Dagen Brewer extended his school record hitting streak to 28 games with a third inning single. He also doubled and compiled two RBI. Fellow senior Andrew Branson had two hits and two RBI, while junior Landin Midgett posted two hits and secured his team-leading 22nd RBI of the season.
The Gorillas returned to the field on Sunday at noon, coming away with a 10-5 win over the Saints. Things were knotted up at zero until the third inning, when the Gorillas would knock in eight runs to take a commanding lead. Maryville would score three runs in the ninth inning, but Pitt State would shut them down for the win.
Bacon and senior Grant Nottlemann each collected four hits in the game. Bacon drove in four runs, while Nottlemann doubled twice and posted two RBI. Senior Jadyn McNealey had two hits, scored twice and stole a pair of bases. Graduate student starter Zach Voss picked up his third win of the season, allowing two runs on six hits over 6.0 innings of work, registering a season-best eight strikeouts. Redshirt junior Ty Blecha tossed 3.0 innings of two-hit relief with four strikeouts.
The final game of the series came later that same evening, as the Gorillas defeated the Saints 10-0. It was a closer game than the final score indicates, as the Gorillas scored three in the third inning, but both teams were held scoreless until the Gorillas exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the eighth to end it by run rule.
Redshirt sophomore Elijah Seitz started, while redshirt junior Cason Long, redshirt junior Bradley Neill and junior Ethan Froud combined on a two-hit shutout in relief. Brewer, who extended his Pitt State record hitting streak to 30 games, smacked a two-run homer in the Gorillas’ three-run third inning and he capped the squad’s seven-run eighth inning outburst with a two-run double to end it. He finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the game. Midgett also smacked a bases loaded triple to raise his team-leading season RBI total to 26.
“We are just preaching at them, hey, we got to keep getting better and they have,” said Buckingham. “They are focused up, and it’s going to take the whole locker room to accomplish what they want to accomplish.”
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
psucollegio 