In the OUA baseball season each weekend is bigger than the one before, and this was certainly the case going into this weekends action for the Gryphons.  Guelph was facing the defending champs from the University of Toronto for two games on Saturday and going into London for two tough road games with the 12-3 Western Mustangs on Sunday.  
  The offence stepped up in the first inning of game one on Saturday.  After a Anthony Interisano (Guelph, Ont.) double scored Peter Ricciardi (Pickering, Ont.) from third, Ryan Thompson (Caledon, Ont.) crushed a two run homer off of Toronto ace Marek Deska to give the Gryphs an early 3-1 lead.  The Varsity Blues answered back with 3 off of starter Brendan Sorichetti (Whitby, Ont.) in the second to take a 4-3 lead.  Steven Fleischer (Brampton, Ont.) knocked in Ricciardi in the third to cut the lead 5-4, but that was all Guelph could put up against Deska as Toronto held on for a 5-4 win. 
 
Game two became even more important for Guelph after dropping game one, and they called on their ace Lucas Borges to get the job done on the mound.  Borges squared off with veteran lefty Drew Taylor for Toronto and both pitchers were stellar.  With the score 0-0 in the fifth, the Gryphs broke through with a two out rally.  Kyle Westwater (Milton, Ont.) drove a triple into the left center field gap, and on the very next pitch, center fielder Kevin Winters (Newmarket, Ont.) cashed Westwater from thrid with a clutch single to right.  Borges would not need more than that run as he retired the final seven batters in a row for the complete game 1-0 shutout.  
 
Western was waiting for Guelph on Sunday having won six out of their previous seven games.  Pitching was again the focus in game one as Gryphs righty Brook Coatsworth (Guelph, Ont.) took the mound against his former team.  Coatsworth changed speeds all day and had Mustangs hitters off balance from the get go.  Guelph took the lead in the second as Interisano and Westwater both singled and Interisano was able to score from 3rd as Westwater was caught up in a rundown.  Coatsworth was helped by a terrific throw from right fielder Marc Mongillo in the fourth to record an out at home and keep the score 1-0.  Western tied it up in the bottom of the fifth and that's how it stayed into the seventh.  Guelph loaded the bases with one out and had a golden opportunity to take the lead, but Mustang's starter Christian Davies recorded a strikeout and a groundout to get out without any damage.  Western got two runners on in the bottom of the 7th and had the middle of their order coming up as Guelph turned to reliever Kevin Lagerquist (Brampton, Ont.) to get them out of the jam.  As he did the week before against McMaster, Lagerquist came into a pressure situation and came through getting two ground balls to send the game to extra innings.  In the 8th, rookie second baseman Wade Sage was hit by a pitch, and after moving to second on a wild pitch was bunted over to third by shortstop Dean Mariani(Mississauga, Ont.).  Ricciardi reached first on an error by the catcher and with runners on the corners, Guelph executed a double steal with Ricciardi stealing second and Sage scoring the go ahead run from third.  With two outs Mongillo provided a huge insurance run with a line drive to center field.  Lagerquist came back out for the 8th and retired the Mustangs in order, including a sliding catch from 3rd baseman Sean Molony that coach Matt Grififn said was "the finest defensive play he had seen in his 10 years as part of the OUA". The result was a hard fought 3-1 win for the Gryphs. 
  Game two saw Guelph send second year starter Jordan Abram (Barrie, Ont.)to the mound looking for his 3rd win of the season.  After a Ricciardi single to start the game and another RBI from Interisano, Guelph had taken an early 1-0 lead.  Abram was terrific through four innings striking out a season high five batters.  Mongillo and Interisano each added another RBI and the Gryphs were up 4-0 going into the bottom of the 5th.  Things came unglued for Guelph as a combination of defensive miscues and timely Western hitting opened the door for a 6 run inning.  Rookie reliever Stephen Fried came in for Abram in the 6th and got out of a jam to keep the score 7-5 Western going into the 7th.  Sean Molony led off the inning by driving a double down the right field line, and that was followed up by Mongillo picking up his fourth hit of the day with a single to right.  Western turned to their closer, hard throwing Paul Lytwynec to face Interisano with the tying run on 1st base.  With the two strikes on him, Interisano delivered the biggest hit of his incredible season.  Justin turned on a letter high fast ball and belted a three run home run that cleared not only the outfield fence, but also the 15 foot high wooden fence that encloses the field.  The tape measure home run was his 7th of the year and turned a 7-5 deficit into an 8-7 lead.  The Gryphs added one more as veteran outfielder Andrew Lindley stole 2nd and 3rd base and scored as his hard slide knocked the ball into left field.  After Western worked a lead off walk, it was time for another Rookie to come in and contribute as Guelph turned to Jeffrey Snelgrove to try and close the door.  As he has in each of his three previous outings, Snelgrove was spectacualar retiring all three batters he faced and giving the Gryphs a dramatic 9-8 come from behind victory moving Guelph ahead of Western and into second place. 
 
After this weekend of solid work, the Gryphons clinched their first playoff berth since 2004 with the win.  
 
Griffin said after the game "this is a team in the truest sense of the word. We have had contributions from so many guys and the way that this group pulls for each other and the effort that's being put in makes it a special group to be around." 
 
Guelph closes the regular season with four home games starting Wednesday at 7:30 pm against McMaster.  The Gryphs look to keep the momentum going as they continue towards their goal of bringing Guelph its first OUA baseball championship.