BRADFORD, Pa. -- Fredonia State dropped a tightly contested 6-5 decision to Pitt-Bradford on Monday, with the Panthers walking it off in the bottom of the ninth.
The Devils opened the scoring in the second inning when
Noah Panek doubled and later came home on an
AJ Roach sacrifice fly to make it 1-0. Pitt.-Bradford responded with a three-run second, highlighted by RBI hits from Kenny Nickson III, Aiden Zimmerman, and Seth Helgert to take a 3-1 lead. The Panthers added another run in the third on an RBI single by Tim Beimel, extending the advantage to 4-1.
Fredonia State found momentum in the fourth inning, capitalizing on a defensive miscue before Roach delivered an RBI single to right center.
Logan Gray later scored on a wild pitch in the same frame, cutting the deficit to 4-3. Pitt.-Bradford, however, added a solo home run from Nickson III in the fifth to push the lead to 5-3.
Again, the Devils battled back in the seventh when
Ryan Mettler drove in
Nick Vitelli with an RBI single to make it 5-4. In the ninth, Connor Tyree came through with a clutch solo home run to left field, tying the game at 5-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Panthers capitalized on a Fredonia State error to put the lead off runner on and into scoring position. After an intentional walk put two on, Trent Bielak delivered an RBI single to left field, bringing home the winning run and sealing the game for Pitt-Bradford.
Fredonia State used five pitchers in the contest with
Owen Ludwig getting the start and charged with three runs in the opening inning.
Seth Soultanidis followed and struck out four across three innings.
Maddox Sheesley,
Vincent Giuliano and
Jonah Church each saw action as well with Church taking the the loss. For Pitt-Bradford, Trent Bielak handled the bulk of the work, going six innings and allowing just one earned run. Kristian Kocon covered the next two frames before Ethan Zimmerman (1-2) finished the game to earn the win.
With the loss, Fredonia falls to 5-14 on the season, while Pitt.-Bradford improves to 9-14.
Fredonia State will return home to face Hobart at Gowanda High School, with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.
