Seton Hill baseball sweeps Mercyhurst, moves to PSAC championship series

The No. 7 Seton Hill baseball team was staring at only its fifth loss of the season Sunday when Jack Oberdorf stepped to the plate against Mercyhurst in the top of the ninth inning.

One swing of the bat gave the Griffins a three-run lead in the second game of a semifinals doubleheader, and the bullpen continued its stellar season as Seton Hill advanced to the Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament championship series.

Seton Hill used three-run homers in both games against the same pitcher to sweep the doubleheader and win the best-of-three semifinals series.

Oberdorf smacked a three-run shot in the second game against Mercyhurst reliever Michael Krauza (10-2) as Seton Hill rallied with four runs in the top of the ninth for a 6-3 victory.

In the first game, Derek Orndorff’s three-run homer off Krauza fueled a five-run fifth that carried Seton Hill to a 7-4 victory.

“I just decided to sit back and watch them do their thing,” Seton Hill coach Marc Marizzaldi said. “You coach them up all year in practice so they can perform in the game.

“They have such an incredible belief — and I know that’s a cliche term — but if you were here today, that’s 100 percent what it was. It was just a bunch of guys saying, ‘We are not going to lose today,’ and they believed in each other.”

Seton Hill, the West Division’s top seed, will host the best-of-three championship series with a pair of contests Friday and, if necessary, a third game Saturday against the East Division winner, either top-seeded Millersville or third-seeded Bloomsburg.

Bloomsburg defeated Millersville, 7-6, in 10 innings for a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-three East semifinals. The series will resume at 11 a.m. Monday at Millersville after Sunday’s scheduled second game was postponed by lightning and rain.

Both Seton Hill comebacks in the West semis came after second-seeded Mercyhurst had taken a lead in its preceding at-bats.

In the first game, Orndorff’s homer capped a Seton Hill rally after the Griffins fell behind 4-1 in the top of the inning on Casimer Sobaszek’s bases-clearing double off Peyton Reesman (4-0).

It was the only Mercyhurst hit against Reesman, who struck out seven and walked none in 3 2/3 innings relief.

Oberdorf greeted Krauza with a three-run homer over the left-center field fence in the second game after Jack Goonan (0-2) yielded Tommy Pellis’ sacrifice fly that tied the score at 3-3, as well as singles by Isaiah DiAndreth and Vincenzo Rauso, before being lifted.

“I didn’t really get it off the bat,” said Oberdorf, a sophomore third baseman. “I hit it off the end of it, but the ball carried out through that alley. I wasn’t sure at first that it was going to make it out, but when I got to first base, everyone was going crazy. They had a better view of it than I did.”

Oberdorf, a Greensburg Salem product, showed little emotion around the bases, but unleashed a big cry amid his teammates, who mobbed him around home plate.

“I try to play the game hard and keep pretty focused and calm through everything,” Oberdorf said. “It’s just the ups and downs of baseball, and you’ve got to stay that way throughout it. Obviously, I was really excited. I may not have shown it as much as some other guys would have, but it’s definitely pretty cool.”

Mercyhurst took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth on Luke Baranchak’s solo homer off Jon McCullough. Cade Negley (3-0) relieved and pitched a third of an inning for Seton Hill.

Nash Bryan pitched a scoreless inning in each game to earn his third and fourth saves for Seton Hill.

“The sign of a great team is guys stepping up,” Marizzaldi said. “We’ve been getting contributions all season from every which way. We got good pitching again today from our relievers.”

Troy Banks and Matthew Gibson also homered for Mercyhurst in the nightcap.

Seton Hill is seeking its third PSAC baseball championship since joining the league in 2013. The Griffins also won two titles in the defunct West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and one as an NAIA member of the American Mideast Conference.