AUBURNDALE, Fla. -- In 2016, sophomore Micah Burke (Gilbert, Ariz./EVAC) pitched just six and one-third innings for the Grove City College baseball team, all in relief and never more than two innings at a time. Today, in his first appearance on the mound this season, the Arizona-native surpassed last year's total and then some by by throwing a nine-inning complete game to lead the Wolverines to a 3-2 victory over Montclair State on Tuesday afternoon as part of the RussMatt Central Florida Baseball Invitational at Field #2 at the Lake Myrtle Sports Park.

Junior left fielder Tyler Graham (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area) and sophomore right fielder Shane Hammel (Fort Collins, Colo./Fossil Ridge) each recorded a pair of hits for the Wolverines (2-4) while senior catcher Andy Fritz (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch), senior shortstop David Laylock (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pine Richland), and freshman first baseman Matt Dayton (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) each drove in a run.

After a scoreless first three innings, Fritz broke the silence in a big way with a leadoff home run over the left field wall to give Grove City a 1-0 lead. The homer was Fritz's first of the season and the third of his career.

Montclair State (2-5) answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 1-1, but Grove City would reclaim the lead in the top of the fifth by way of small-ball tactics. Hammel drew a leadoff walk, and sophomore third baseman Bobby Dulay (Youngstown, Ohio/Ursuline) laid his first of three sacrifice bunts to move Hammel to second. A Graham groundout moved Hammel to third, and, following a Laylock walk, Dayton drove Hammel home on a single to right field for a 2-1 Wolverine advantage.

The Red Hawks nearly answered right back in the bottom of the fifth, as Justin Epifanio hit a two-out double and Michael Muentener followed with a single to right field, but Epifanio would be denied at the plate as Hammel fired a bullet from the outfield into Fritz, who stood his ground to tag the runner and end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, Burke recorded the first out before allowing a single to John Tedesco. The Red Hawks' Sebastian Severio followed with a single to right field, but the additional hit was made a moot point when Hammel fired another zinger from the outfield, this time to Dulay at third, to tag Tedesco out. A Wolverine fielding error and another single reloaded the bases for Montclair State, and Muentener followed with a single to left field. Severio scored to tie the game at 2-2, but this time it was Graham who zipped a ball in from the outfield to beat out Ryan Long to end the inning and keep the Red Hawks from taking the lead.

The top of the ninth looked quite similar to the top of the fifth, as Hammel singled and Dulay laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Hammel to second. Graham once again hit a ground ball in the infield, but the Montclair State defense tried to get Hammel out at third and instead failed to get an out, giving the Wolverines runners at the corners on the fielder's choice. Laylock followed with what would prove to be the game-winning hit, hitting a single to left field that scored Hammel to give Grove City a 3-2 edge.

From there, it was Burke's game to finish, and he did just that, retiring the side in order to seal the win.

Burke scattered 12 hits and two runs over nine innings while striking out three and walking just one.

Grove City is back in action tomorrow in Florida, facing Penn State Altoona at 12:30 p.m. at the Chain of Lakes Park Stadium.