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March 9/10 College Roundup: Grove City College’s Guidas Fires Perfect Game; Four PSAC Wrestlers Still Alive at DII Championships

DAVENPORT, Fla. — Grove City College junior pitcher Nick Guidas (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine Richland) fired a nine-inning perfect game Thursday morning to help lead the Wolverines to a 6-0 win over Illinois College in non-conference action at Northeast Regional Park.

                        

The 6-foot-2 southpaw struck out a career-high 14 men and needed only 105 pitches to retire all 27 batters. He struck out eight of the last nine batters, striking out the side in both the seventh and ninth innings. Guidas threw 76 strikes and only 29 balls. Only two balls put in play against Guidas left the infield — a pair of flyouts to freshman center fielder Nick Sampson (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township).

It is the first perfect game for Grove City since current senior Tate Ostrowski (Essex, Mass./Covenant Christian) retired all 21 Bethany hitters on April 23, 2021, in an 8-0, seven-inning victory. Four years ago, Lake Pry struck out 13 men in a mercy rule-shortened eight-inning no-hitter in Florida against Penn State New Kensington.

On Friday, Grove City extended its winning streak to seven games with a 3-2 win over Mount Union.

FOUR PSAC WRESTLERS STILL ALIVE AT DII CHAMPIONSHIPS

                              

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa  Four PSAC wrestlers are still alive in the championship semifinals after the first day of action at the 2023 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships. Millersville’s Devin Flannery (133) , Gannon’s Dom Means (157), and Pitt-Johnstown’s Jacob Ealy (149) and Nathan Smith (157) will all wrestle in the championship bracket on Saturday.

Flannery (33-4), ranked fifth in the nation at 133 pounds, opened his day with a 6-4 decision over Indianapolis’ Breyden Bailey and added a 9-6 decision over No. 4-ranked Elijah Lusk of Lander in the quarterfinals. Flannery faces No.1-ranked Quentrevio Campbell of Chadron State (record of 20-1) in tomorrow’s semifinals.

In the 149-pound bracket, Pitt-Johnstown’s No.1-ranked Jacob Ealy (31-0) opened his tournament with a 7-2 decision over Lander’s Jack Tangen and added a 47-second fall over Central Oklahoma’s No.8-ranked Brik Filippo in the quarterfinals. He will face No. 5 Jason Hanenberg of Western Colorado (32-5) in the next round.

Means (29-7), ranked eighth in the nation at 157 pounds, earned a 5-2 decision over Carter Noehre from the Colorado School of Mines and followed it up with a huge 7-6 decision over No. 1-ranked Noah Hermosillo of Adams State, who entered the tournament with a record of 22-1. Means will wrestle No. 5 Logan Bailey of Indianapolis (record of 34-4) in the semifinals.

On the other side of the bracket at 157, Pitt-Johnstown’s No. 6-ranked Nathan Smith (24-4) rattled off a pair of decisions–4-3 over Northern State’s Devin Bahr and 5-2 over King’s Trent Mahoney–and earns a showdown with unbeaten No. 2-ranked Nick Novak (27-0) of St. Cloud State in the semis.

                          

GANNON WOMEN’S HOOPS SEASON COMES TO AN END

Despite solid offensive efforts by Gannon’s Sam Pirosko (23 points) and freshman Bri Claxon (17 points), the No. 2-seeded Golden Knights were upset by No. 7 seed Charleston and the Golden Eagles’ top scorer Markyia McCormick (a game-high 27 points, three rebounds, and four assists.)

Gannon sprinted out to a 16-4 lead in the first quarter but Charleston fought back, climbing to within seven points, 39-32, after a layup by Clarrissa Francis with one second remaining in the half. Charleston had an efficient third quarter and led by as many as 13 points, 47-34, with 7:52 left to go in the third.

Gannon’s offense came alive in the fourth and the Golden Knights clawed back to tie the game at 65, but a late McCormick layup and solid defensive possession were enough for Charleston to escape with the victory.

                       

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