Kollar stellar as Seton Hill blanks Gannon in PSAC quarterfinals

In high school, right-hander Jared Kollar routinely faced pressure situations. He was the winning pitcher in WPIAL and PIAA championship games in 2017 as a senior at Latrobe.

Four years later, as a college senior at Seton Hill, Kollar took the mound Wednesday for just the third time after returning from a long layoff and helped the West Division top-seeded Griffins to a good start in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament.

Isaiah DiAndreth and Jack Oberdorf homered to back the combined two-hit shutout by Kollar and Marshall McGraw, and Owen Sabol had four of Seton Hill’s 11 hits, driving home a run with a third-inning triple, as the Griffins came away with a 6-0 win over fourth-seeded Gannon in a quarterfinal at SHU Baseball Complex.

Kollar, who missed a month with a broken finger, improved to 4-0, allowing just two hits while striking out eight and walking none in six innings before giving way to McGraw, who turned in three perfect innings for his second save.

“This team really reminds me of my senior year at Latrobe,” Kollar said. “Just how close together we were as a team and how well we were playing together, it’s carried over to here.”

Oberdorf’s blast to center field off Eric Sapp — a two-run shot — capped a four-run sixth in which Seton Hill was caught stealing twice and had a third out on a pickoff play at first. The home run, Oberdorf’s fourth, followed Jordan Fiedor’s two-run single that gave Seton Hill a 4-0 lead.

Fiedor finished 2 for 4 for the Griffins.

DiAndreth, Oberdorf and Fiedor contributed to the victory in their hometown. DiAndreth and Fiedor attended Hempfield and Oberdorf a product of Greensburg Salem.

“I was just looking for a good pitch to hit,” said Oberdorf, who hit just one career homer in high school. “Jordy had a big two-RBI single there right before that pitch. Just trying to keep the inning going. I got a pitch over the plate, and it felt really good.”

DiAndreth’s homer in the fourth off Gannon starter Devin Judy (3-6), a Belle Vernon graduate, barely cleared the left-field foul pole to put Seton Hill ahead, 2-0.

“A typical game for us,” said Seton Hill coach Marc Marizzaldi, who earlier this month won his 600th game at Seton Hill, where he became the school’s first baseball coach upon the inception of the program in 2004-05.

“A couple long balls, great pitching, great defense. A few timely hits and a few home runs. That’s the way we’ve been doing it all year.”

Seton Hill for a second consecutive week was ranked No. 7 in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II poll.

The Griffins (32-4) advance to the best-of-3 PSAC semifinals series at home against West Division second seed Mercyhurst, which defeated third-seeded Cal (Pa.), 10-3, in the quarterfinals. They’ll play a doubleheader Sunday, with the third game, if necessary, scheduled for Monday.

In the East Division quarterfinals, top-seeded Millersville beat Shepherd, 11-4, and third-seeded Bloomsburg upended second-seeded West Chester, 5-2.

The tournament championship series is scheduled for May 21-22 at the site of the West Division winner.

Sabol, a Norwin product, was going for a perfect day at the plate after the third-inning triple and three singles, but he fell short in his final at-bat.

“Still one of my better performances,” said the sophomore shortstop. “It’s the same thing for me, though — go out there every time and swing at strikes, take balls. It worked out today. We’re out here having fun. The more baseball, the more fun. We’ve got a special group here.”