Box Score WINTERHAVEN, Fla. – The Notre Dame Falcons squared off against Gannon on their second day of play at the RussMat Invitational on Monday afternoon, and fell to the Golden Knights, 9-2.
The Falcons (3-3) hit into a couple of double plays on the afternoon, and spoiled a few chances to score by leaving seven on base, while the Golden Knights (5-2) extended their winning streak to four with the victory.
Gannon took the lead almost immediately, scoring three times in the bottom of the first inning to take a lead that they would never surrender. They were able to score three times in the home half of the first inning, and did it on just two hits.
Notre Dame battled back, and scored twice in the top of the fourth inning to claw within one (3-2).
Keifer Quick started the mini rally with a one out single, and advanced to second base on an errant throw.
Ross Barker's groundout advanced him to third, and he scored moments later on a wild pitch. Jose Rosales walked with two out later in the inning, and came home on
TJ Lett's RBI triple to center.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, those were the only runs they could come up with. Gannon answered with a single run in the bottom of the fourth inning, before adding three more in the home half of the fifth, and they scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull away.
The Falcons showed some promise late in the game, as
Ricky Phillips,
Dominic Lombardo and
Caleb Pyscher all reached to start the inning. Phillips was hit by a pitch, before Lombardo and Pyscher singled to load the bases, but the Falcons could not cash in, as they left them loaded to end the game.
Gannon's Santiago Mendez (2-0) scored the victory, allowing just a pair of runs on five hits while fanning three over 6.2 innings of work.
Matt Yates (1-1) took the loss, after allowing five runs on three hits over four innings of action. Five Falcons saw action on the mound, with
Garrett Kordish,
Kenny Pierson,
Austin Tanfield and
Andrew Raponi all seeing action.
The Falcons had eight hits on the day, with eight different Falcons hitting safely once. Smetana, Quick, Rosales, Lombardo, Lett, Pyscher,
Nate Rearick and
Austin Barnhart all hit safely.
The Falcons are in action again on Tuesday, March 1, when the square off against Tiffin (OH), at Chain of Lakes Stadium in Winterhaven, Fla. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
