HAMMOND, Ind. — Purdue Northwest dealt its third upset in as many days in the GLIAC Baseball Tournament as the sixth-seeded Pride defeated second-seeded Wayne State in dramatic fashion by a final score of 7-5 in 12 innings Saturday at Dowling Park. Wayne State rallied with five runs in the bottom of the ninth to force extras, but the Pride held on and scored two in the top of the 12th.
With the win, PNW (21-21) advanced to Sunday's championship round at The Steel Yard in Gary. It's the first time in recorded GLIAC Baseball Tournament history the lowest seed has reached the championship without a loss in the preliminary rounds. The Pride are still unbeaten in the double-elimination tournament with wins over the No. 1, 2 and 4 seeds. First pitch is slated for 11:30 a.m. CDT on Sunday against the winner of Saturday night's game between Wayne State and Davenport.
Freshman
Bret Matthys (Cedar Lake, Ind./Hanover Central) delivered a season-best performance on the mound and was two outs away from a three-hit shutout, before exiting with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.
Matthys' final line included three hits, three runs (unearned), one strikeout and one walk across eight-and-a-third which is the longest outing of the season by a Pride pitcher. He cruised through the early going and finished with 87 total pitches while inducing 15 ground outs.
PNW scored first with a pair of runs on
Ray Hilbrich's (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central) opposite-field double to the left-field corner in the third inning.
Anthony Fumagalli (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North High School), who led off with a single, and
Jack Gallagher (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North High School), who was hit by a pitch, both scored after reaching base safely to start the inning.
Two innings later, PNW plated two more against Wayne State starter Seth Marano after an error opened the door for back-to-back, two-out hits from Matthys and
Hayden Matulich (San Jose, Calif./Pioneer). Matthys singled to right field and moved
Andrew Petsche (Oswego, Ill./Oswego East) over to third. Then, Matulich hit a hard chopper that made it past the third baseman down the line for a two-run double which gave the Pride a 4-0 lead.
Marano was solid for the Warriors and pitched nine innings in the no-decision with six strikeouts.
The Pride stranded two runners in scoring position in the sixth, but Matulich delivered again in the seventh with a solo blast to left field. Matulich's second home run of the season put PNW in front by a 5-0 margin.
WSU loaded the bases against Matthys in the ninth after the leadoff man reached on an error. Then, the Warriors strung together three timely hits to even the score at 5-5 against PNW reliever
Riley Gallagher (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North High School). It appeared the tying run was gunned down at the plate for the game-ending play, but a close call didn't go the Pride's way. Two weeks ago, the Pride defeated the Warriors in similar fashion with the final out coming at the plate in the bottom of the ninth.
In extras,
Sam Shively (Mishawaka, Ind./Mishawaka (Taylor)) took over on the mound and was lights out. Working on just one day of rest after starting Thursday's win over Davenport, Shively allowed three hits and struck out three to earn his fourth win. He also delivered a clutch hit in his first career at-bat in the 11th inning.
The Pride left two aboard in the 11th, but came through with three hits and two runs in the 12th frame.
Ethan Imlach (Mokena, Ill./Mount Carmel) drew a leadoff walk and later scored the go-ahead run on a
Tyler Schultz (Hobart, Ind./Hobart) single. Two batters later, Fumagalli provided the insurance run with a two-out single to left field.
Fumagalli led the Pride with a 3-for-5 effort at the plate while Matulich went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Schultz recorded a pair of hits while
Jack Gallagher (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North High School) extended his hitting streak to 12 games. Hilbrich has now reached base in 15 consecutive contests.
The Pride outhit the Warriors 13-9 in the thrilling affair and Wayne State committed three defensive errors.
| 2022 GLIAC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT (DOUBLE-ELIMINATION) |
|
| THURSDAY, May 12 |
| GAME 2 |
11 AM |
#2 Wayne State 10, #4 Saginaw Valley State 4 |
| GAME 1 |
3 PM |
#6 Purdue Northwest 10, #1 Davenport 8 |
| GAME 3 |
7 PM |
#3 Northwood 11, #4 Grand Valley State 6 |
| FRIDAY, May 13 |
| GAME 4 |
11 AM |
#1 Davenport 12, #5 Saginaw Valley State 8 |
| GAME 5 |
3 PM |
#6 Purdue Northwest 11, #4 Grand Valley State 3 |
| GAME 6 |
7 PM |
#2 Wayne State 7, #3 Northwood 4 |
| SATURDAY, May 14 |
| GAME 7 |
10 AM** |
#6 Purdue Northwest 7, #2 Wayne State 5 (12) |
| GAME 8 |
2 PM** |
#1 Davenport 8, #3 Northwood 5 |
| Game 9 |
7:30 PM |
#2 Wayne State vs. #1 Davenport |
| SUNDAY, May 15 |
| GAME 10 |
11:30 AM |
#6 Purdue Northwest vs. TBA |
| GAME 11 |
|
If-Necessary Game |
FOLLOW THE PRIDE
For all the latest information on Purdue Northwest Baseball, please visit PNWathletics.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Pride (@pnwathletics / @PNW_Baseball) on Twitter. You can also find the Pride on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
