Gannon University Men's Baseball

Gannon University baseball head coach DJ Cannon enters his fifth season at the helm in 2026. In his first three campaigns Cannon has compiled a 79-102 record. After an injury-filled and discouraging 2024 campaign the 2025 Gannon edition doubled its win total, finishing at 22-25 and just missing out on the PSAC Tournament while finishing at the .500 mark in conference play with a 14-14 ledger. The record would have been ever better if not for eight losses by a run. Cannon rebuilt the squad with a young roster that shows great promise for the future. The Golden Knights served notice that they were a much-improved team during the spring trip. They won four of five games in Florida including an 11-7 win at Rollins and a 14-4 triumph over a Point Park squad that won the Mountain East Conference championship and finished with a 40-14 record.  Gannon was rewarded with four players on the All-PSAC West team. Alex Bemis (3B/OF) and Wes Parker (1B) earned first team honors while Jake Boynar (P) and Connor Smith (OF) were awarded spots on the second team. In his inaugural season, Cannon led Gannon to a 2022 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division regular-season title, a 29-17 overall record, and Gannon’s second appearance in the NCAA Division II tournament in the past three seasons. (There was not an NCAA tournament in 2020). After Gannon hired him as the head coach on August 6, 2021, Cannon guided the Golden Knights to a 20-8 record in the PSAC, which led the PSAC West and gave Gannon the West’s top seed going into the PSAC Tournament. The Knights lost in the first round of the tournament but still landed a berth in the NCAA Tournament and claimed the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Regional. Under Cannon’s watch, three Gannon players earned PSAC West All-Star status: pitchers Eric Sapp and Deven Judy, and infielder Ian Hess. Sapp was named PSAC West Pitcher of the Year and went on to earn Atlantic Region and All-America honors. The 2023 campaign saw the Golden Knights finish at 17-26 overall and 12-16 in the PSAC West, good for fifth place in the division. A pair of Golden Knights were accorded All-PSAC West honors, with first baseman Hess becoming a three-time All-PSAC West honoree after earning first team honors. Outfielder Brandon Wetherholt was also named to the first team. In addition, five players were named to the CSC Academic All-District Team. They included Kieran Gagnon, Brandon Myers, Corey Shields, Jake Visha, and Wetherholt. The 2024 season was filled with numerous injuries and late-inning losses. But the season also saw a young team continuously battle back. The end result was an 11-34 finish with 10 losses by one run and two by two runs.   Cannon previously worked at Chatham University, where he was the head baseball coach from 2019-21. He coached the Cougars to program records in overall victories and conference wins in 2021. In addition, he helped his Chatham team set a program record with a 3.45 grade-point average. The Valencia, Pa., native also worked as head coach of the 17U Pittsburgh Spikes Baseball, a premier travel baseball organization in Pittsburgh, where he coached top players from western Pennsylvania. Cannon began his coaching career at his alma mater, Seton Hill University, as a full-time assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in 2012. He helped Seton Hill to four straight 40-plus win seasons, including one West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) North Division championship in 2013, two PSAC West titles, two PSAC Tournament championships, six NCAA Division II Regional appearances, and a trip to the NCAA Division II World Series in 2014. Cannon received his bachelor's degree in Business from Seton Hill in 2011 and his Master of Business Administration in 2014. During his collegiate career at Seton Hill, Cannon was a four-year regular as a pitcher, posting 12 wins and 113 strikeouts in 159 innings over 48 appearances. Cannon still ranks eighth in school history with a career 3.78 earned run average. As a player, Cannon helped his team secure four straight playoff appearances, including three NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional berths. He was also part of leading Seton Hill to its first-ever WVIAC championship in 2010. Cannon lives in Millcreek Township.

Ryan Uhl is in his fourth season as a member of the Gannon University baseball coaching staff in 2025 after being named an assistant coach by D.J. Cannon in November 2022.   A former seventh-round pick with major league baseball's Seattle Mariners in 2015, Uhl arrived at Gannon after serving as an assistant coach at Penn State-Behrend since the fall of 2019. During his two-year stint at Behrend, Uhl helped the Lions to the 2021 Allegheny Collegiate Conference Championship and a regional victory. The conference championship was the school's first since 2013, and the regional win was PSUB's first since 2010. The team also ranked in the top 30 nationally in both batting average and doubles.   "We could not be more excited to have Ryan join our coaching staff here at Gannon," said Cannon upon Uhl’s hiring. "He brings a wealth of baseball knowledge from many different levels of the game. His experiences will be a huge asset to our players and the continued growth of our program."   The winning continued for Uhl in his first season with the Golden Knights. Gannon won the PSAC West regular season crown with a 20-8 record and went on to appear in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional for the second time in school history. The Golden Knights ended the year at 29-17, the fourth-highest win total in school history.   Uhl developed a balanced lineup that while hitting .268 as a team, finished with 42 home runs and 123 extra base hits while also striking out just 325 times, the fourth-lowest total in the PSAC. Gannon also tied for fifth in the PSAC in stolen bases with 84 in 105 attempts. Gannon finished with a 17-26 record in Uhl's second campaign, including 12-16 in the Western Division. An injury-plagued 2024 season saw Gannon finish at 11-34 with 10 one-run losses.   During the summer of 2019, Uhl served as hitting coach for the Martha's Vineyard Sharks of the NECBL. That season, the Sharks recorded their best regular season record at 28-16.   Uhl also made coaching stops at both California (Pa.), Indiana (Pa.) and William & Mary as a volunteer assistant. During the spring of 2019 at Cal, Uhl assisted with the day-to-day operations of the program and worked on skill development with hitters and infielders. That season, the Vulcans set a school record with 37 wins as Uhl assisted in the development of the PSAC West Baseball Athlete and Freshman of the Year. A total of three players earned All-PSAC West honors that season.   The year prior at IUP, Uhl worked with the Crimson Hawk hitters, infielders and outfielders. He also worked extensively with recruiting, alumni relations and fundraising while at IUP. During the spring of 2018, Uhl assisted in the development of an All-American and all-conference second baseman.   As a player at IUP from 2011-15, Uhl was a first-team All-American as a senior and also garnered All-PSAC and All-Atlantic Region honors twice during his career (2012, 2015). He still holds IUP's career record for both home runs (42) and slugging percentage (.646) and also holds four single-season records for the Crimson Hawk baseball program. He holds the PSAC single-season home run record and ranks fourth in NCAA Division II history in single season home runs with 29 in 2015 as a senior.   After being drafted by the Mariners, he was a first baseman for the Everett AquaSox and Arizona League Mariners during his time as a professional from 2015 to 2017.   He earned a Bachelor of Finance degree from Indiana (Pa.) in May of 2017. Ryan and his wife Caitlin reside in Erie with their one-year-old son Jett, born in May 2024..  

Joe Colosi enters his eighth season as an assistant coach with the Gannon baseball program in 2026. He serves as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. This past season Colosi helped develop one All-PSAC West honoree as Jake Boynar earned second team all-conference accolades. A young pitching staff lowered its team ERA by over a run a year ago while allowing almost 50 fewer base on balls.   Colosi served as a volunteer assistant coach for Gannon in 2019 while helping guide the Golden Knights to their best season in program history.  The team's 33-17 overall and 21-7 conference marks are both program records, and the Knights also achieved their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.   The 2020 squad played an abbreviated season due to COVID-19, ending the year with a 3-9 record. A year later the Golden Knights were 18-17, including 16-12 in the PSAC West to earn fourth place in the division and a berth in the PSAC Tournament.   In 2021 Colosi played a huge role in another one of the top seasons in baseball history. The Golden Knights were 29-17, the fourth-highest season win total, and won the Western Division regular season title with a 20-8 record. They went on to make Gannon’s second NCAA Tournament appearance.   Under his tutelage Gannon featured two of the top pitchers in the PSAC. Eric Sapp developed into the PSAC West Pitcher of the Year in his final season and was a D2CCA honorable mention All-American along with earning ABCA/Rawlings All-Atlantic Region First Team honors.   Deven Judy was a three-time All-PSAC West honoree, earning second team accolades in 2022 after being voted to the first team in 2019 and 2021. The righthander set Gannon records for career victories (21), innings pitched (256.2) and strikeouts (308). Sapp is tied for second in career victories with 20. Judy is third and Sapp fourth in career ERA. The 2023 Gannon edition finished at 17-26 and went 12-16 in the PSAC West. An injury-plagued 2024 season saw Gannon finish at 11-34 with 10 one-run losses.   Colosi is a former Gannon starting pitcher who played under head coach Greg Coleman for three seasons from 2016-2018.  In that span, he was part of the 2016 team that set the program's previous overall wins record (31-17) and conference wins records (18-10).  He was also a part of the 2018 team that tied those same marks.   The Niagara Falls, New York, native led Gannon starting pitchers and was second among the entire staff in opponent batting average (.188) and WHIP (1.08) during his senior season. Colosi finished his three-year Gannon career 21st all-time in wins.   Prior to transferring to Gannon for his sophomore year, Colosi played his freshman season at Niagara County Community College.  At the junior college baseball juggernaut, Colosi went 5-0 with a starting staff-leading 2.78 ERA and a no-hitter while helping his team reach the NJCAA Regional Final Four.   Colosi received a Bachelor’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Gannon in 2019 with a minor in History. He resides in Erie.