ERIE, Pa. -- The Grove City College baseball team concluded the 2019 season Sunday afternoon by dropping a 9-7 decision to top-seeded Pfeiffer in the championship game of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championship Tournament, hosted by Penn State Behrend. 

Grove City concludes the season 28-16 overall, setting a program record for single-season victories. 

Sunday, Grove City jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. Senior DH Bobby Dulay (Youngstown, Ohio/Ursuline) opened Grove City's scoring by walking with the bases loaded, bringing home junior first baseman Matt Dayton (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton). 

Senior third baseman Micah Burke (Gilbert, Ariz./E.V.A.C.) scored the Wolverines' second run on a passed ball. Junior shortstop Bobby Abbott (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) followed with a two-run triple that scored Dulay and senior left fielder Travis Auth (Medina, Ohio/Medina). 

Abbott then scored the fifth run of the inning on a single by sophomore second baseman Jesse Clary (Cranberry Township, Pa./Eden Christian).

Pfeiffer (30-8) scored three times in the bottom of the second, then took the lead with a three-run third. Pfeiffer pushed its lead to 9-5 by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Grove City cut the lead in half in the seventh inning as sophomore first baseman Bubba Hamilton (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro) led off with a home run and Auth later scored on an error. The Wolverines left the tying runs on base in the seventh.

Clary went 2 for 4 to help lead the Wolverines, who finished with six hits. 

Sophomore pitcher Lake Pry (West Sunbury, Pa./Moniteau) started and allowed four runs in 1 2/3 innings. Sophomore D.J. Newby (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) pitched three innings of relief and yielded five runs, taking the setback. Junior Austin Wacker (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. 

Grove City will lose Auth, pitcher Phil Bell (Poland, Ohio/Heartland Christian), pitcher John Bini (Staten Island, N.Y./Xaverian), catcher Derek Boyle (Stafford, Va./Brooke Point), Burke, Dulay and center fielder Shane Hammel (Fort Collins, Colo./Fossil Ridge) to graduation.