Gorillas rally in two elimination games, advance to MIAA tournament championship

May 22—The Pittsburg State baseball team refused to say die on Friday.

Despite trailing at some point in a pair of elimination games in the MIAA Tournament, the fourth-seeded Gorillas rallied in both to pick up wins of 7-6 over seventh-seeded Rogers State and 2-1 over sixth-seeded Central Oklahoma at Warren Turner Field on the Missouri Southern campus.

The triumphs advanced PSU to the championship to take on top-seeded Central Missouri at noon Saturday. The Gorillas need back-to-back wins over the Mules to claim the conference crown.

The Gorillas faced deficits of 6-2 and 1-0 in Friday's outings against RSU and UCO, respectively.

"It's great for the kids," PSU head coach Bob Fornelli said. "They battled. A lot of teams, once we got down 6-2 in the eighth inning this afternoon, would have gone home. ... We're getting closer. We're not where we need to be yet, but our kids are fighting and believe in each other. and that's big."

PSU 7, RSU 6The Gorillas trailed by four runs before erupting for a five-run showing on four hits in the top of the eighth inning.

The pivotal frame opened with back-to-back home runs by juniors Garrett McGowan and Dawson Pomeroy. and after putting runners on third and second with two outs, junior Cruz Aranda delivered a two-run double on a line drive to left field to tie the game at 6-6.

PSU took its first lead of the ballgame two at-bats later when sophomore Aaron Gerdes hit a grounder that was misplayed by RSU second baseman Mason Harvey, allowing Aranda to score from second base for a 7-6 advantage. Harvey failed to see Aranda headed toward home plate in time to throw out the speedy leadoff hitter.

Pomeroy, who came on in relief for the Gorillas in the seventh, took care of the rest by shutting out the Hillcats in the final two frames. In total, the first-team all-region honoree tossed three scoreless innings and surrendered no hits while striking out five to pick up his third win of the season.

It was all Rogers State early in the game. The Hillcats posted back-to-back two-run showings in the second and third innings to take a 4-0 lead while starter Corey Murphy held PSU to no runs and just one hit through the first four frames.

The Gorillas began chipping away at the deficit in the top of the fifth when freshman Ryan Koval drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to deep right field. Then two innings later, PSU drew to within two runs of RSU after scoring on a throwing error by third baseman Ethan Rivera.

The Hillcats got two runs back in the bottom of the seventh on an infield throwing error, opening up a 6-2 lead.

Ohlmeier finished 3 for 4 with one run scored to pace the PSU offense. McGowan finished 2 for 5 with one RBI, and Aranda accounted for a team-high two RBI.

Justin Root went three innings for PSU in his start, surrendering four runs — two unearned — and three hits while striking out a pair. Tanner Lane and Jordan Mendenhall combined to limit the Hillcats to two unearned runs in three innings of relief.

For RSU (20-22), Skyler Nelson finished 2-for-4 with one run scored while Prescott Horn and Brandon Bradshaw had one homer apiece. Reliever Vinny Riggio took the loss after surrendering one run and one hit in 2/3 of an inning.

PSU 2, UCO 1

Aided by complete-game gem by righty Peyton Ingalls, Pittsburg State again managed to overcome a deficit in Friday's nightcap by plating two runs on three hits in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Gorillas led off the frame with back-to-back singles before Pinkett came home on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-all. Two batters later, Koval drove a tailing line drive to right field to plate Hartman for a 2-1 lead.

Ingalls, who limited the Bronchos to one earned run and three hits while striking out eight, capped his stellar performance by working himself out of a jam in the ninth inning. UCO put two runners on the base paths with no outs before Ingalls retired three straight batters with a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to left field.

PSU, tallying eight hits in the game, was paced offensively by Pinkett and Koval with two hits apiece.

Bennett Laurence went 2 for 3 with a double to lead the hitting for Central Oklahoma.

Contact Jared Porter on Twitter at @JaredRyanPorter.