Seton Hill, Bloomsburg split first 2 games of PSAC finals, setting up Saturday showdown

Down a game in the best-of-3 championship series, Bloomsburg rode freshman Michael Standen’s five-hitter to a convincing 9-2 victory over No. 6 Seton Hill on Friday in the second game of a doubleheader in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament at SHU Baseball Complex.

Anthony Viggiano hit a grand slam, finishing with six RBIs, and Kyle O’Fier followed with a two-run shot in the second inning for Bloomsburg (22-16), which evened the series and set up a deciding third game at noon Saturday at Seton Hill.

The loss ended a 12-game winning streak for Seton Hill (35-5), which won the first game 7-5 despite getting just two hits — both by Tyler Peterson, who drove in five runs with a fourth-inning grand slam and a sixth-inning single.

“When you lose, you can really learn some things,” Seton Hill coach Marc Marizzaldi said. “We’ve won so many games, you get in a habit of being used to winning. When you lose, it’s usually because the other team was better, and you made a lot of mistakes.

“We don’t want to ignore what we learned today. There’s a lot of value in being humble.”

No matter the outcome on Saturday, Seton Hill will qualify for the NCAA Division II Tournament next week as the No. 1 team in the current Atlantic Region rankings. Bloomsburg entered the PSAC Tournament championship series at No. 6 in the region.

The top five teams in each of the eight final region rankings will qualify for the NCAA Tournament, among them the PSAC Tournament winner, which earns an automatic bid.

“This (PSAC) championship is really important to us,” Marizzaldi said. “We have an opportunity, if we keep getting better, to maybe get to the (Division II) World Series.”

Standen, a left-hander, struck out 11 and did not walk a batter in throwing 110 pitches. He allowed just one hit over the final six innings as Seton Hill struggled all day at the plate, managing a total of just seven hits in both games.

It was the second consecutive complete game for Standen (4-2), who blanked Millersville on Monday in a 13-0, seven-inning victory in the semifinals.

“That’s what we needed,” Bloomsburg coach Mike Collins said. “He saved us.”

Standen threw 95 pitches in the victory over Millersville and came back four days later to top the 100-pitch count and hurl his latest gem.

“He had to kind of convince me he was ready,” Collins said. “He continued to pound the strike zone. We were watching him close the last few innings, considering the bullpen, and and he did just enough to keep us from making that trip out there.”

Seton Hill jumped on Standen early, taking a 2-0 lead on Vincenzo Rauso’s RBI double and an RBI single by Peterson, who was 2 for 3 and finished the day with four of Seton Hill’s seven hits.

The lead was short-lived as Bloomsburg jumped on Seton Hill starter Marshall McGraw (3-1) for six runs in the bottom of the second on the home runs by Viggiano and O’Fier.

Ben Newbert singled, Andrew Holmes reached on the first of his three hit-by-pitches — he later was hit in the helmet by a pitch from reliever Peyton Reesman but stayed in the game — and Jake Reed walked, setting up Viggiano’s grand slam.

The Huskies added to their lead in the fifth against Reesman and Aidan Layton, Viggiano’s two-run double and an RBI single by Jared Burcin making it 9-2.

“My hope was to compete really well, and, thankfully, we did,” Collins said. “I like where we stand.”

In the opener, Seton Hill, the PSAC Western Division champion, broke a scoreless tie in the fourth on Peterson’s grand slam.

The Griffins rallied to regain the lead in the bottom of the sixth after Bloomsburg, the Eastern Division champ, had gone ahead 5-4 in the top of the inning against Ben Vicini (5-1) on Gianni Sinatore’s two-run double and Tyler Wiik’s two-run single.

Peterson’s RBI single in the sixth was the only other Seton Hill hit off Bloomsburg pitchers JJ Spehrly, Logan Hile (2-4) and Dylan Lubinski and tied the score at 5-5.

The Huskies scored an unearned run in the fifth against Jared Kollar, who had eight strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings, when Sinatore came home on a cutoff throw to second following a single by Wiik, cutting the Seton Hill lead to 4-1.

With one out in the fourth, Spehrly walked Jordan Fiedor and Derek Orndorff before Rauso reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases.

Peterson, a senior first baseman, drove Spehrly’s pitch over the centerfield fence for Seton Hill’s first hit and a 4-0 lead.

Peterson’s RBI single through the left side of the infield against Hile scored Orndorff in the bottom of the sixth before Hile’s wild pitch allowed Rauso to score and give Seton Hill a 6-5 lead.

The Griffins added a run in the seventh when Fiedor scored on a double steal that resulted in a fielding error by Bloomsburg’s catcher, Wiik.

Nash Bryan, who registered saves in both Seton Hill victories over Mercyhurst last weekend in the semifinals, pitched a perfect ninth to notch another save for the Griffins.