Game 1 Boxscore
Game 2 Boxscore
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (March 9) – The Waynesburg University baseball team opened up their spring break trip at the Russ Matt Baseball Invitational on Monday with a pair of games against Mount Union.
In game one against the Purple Raiders, the Jackets jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Unfortunately, Mout Union came all the way back to take a 6-3 victory.
Senior first baseman Brandon Dittmar walked with the bases loaded to bring home first-year shortstop Anthony Defilippo. Another new Jacket, centerfielder Rob Cool Jr, plated freshman catcher Brendan Scioscia, who reached base on a single, with a sacrifice fly.
Waynesburg got their third-and-final run of the game when starting pitcher Patrick Logan trotted home after Mount Union starter Joe Irwin uncorked a wild pitch.
Unfortunately, the Raiders' offense picked up a run in the fourth, two more in the fifth and a three-spot in the sixth to snatch the victory away.
After tossing three shutout innings, Logan gave up all six Mt. Union runs, four of which were earned, over six frames of work on six hits and five walks. The Washington native walked four.
Junior hurler Zac Rhoades tossed a hitless seventh inning in relief. Irwin threw all seven innings to get the win. He gave up just one earned run on six hits and four walks, while striking out three.
At the plate, Waynesburg was led by Scioscia and third baseman Corey Goeggelman, who both notched a pair of singles in the loss.
In game two, Waynesburg stuck with the Raiders early on, but couldn't catch their opponents as the Jackets dropped a 9-2 loss.
The Yellow Jackets (1-4) fell behind 3-0 in the top of the second inning, but bounced back in the bottom of the frame with a run that was produced when Chris Dittmar singled in Cool, who had doubled in the previous at-bat.
Mount Union (3-1) built their lead up to 5-1 in the top of the fourth by plating two more runners. The Jackets got their only other tally that same inning when Cool doubled in Brandon Dittmar, who had also doubled.
Mount Union added three more runs in the fifth and one in the seventh to seal the deal.
Though the season is still young, Cool is quickly establishing himself as one of the team's top offensive threats. The Clinton native went two-for-three with his pair of two-baggers. Chris Dittmar also went two-for-three on the day.
Sophomore pitcher Tim Knight took the loss on the hill for the Jackets after tossing 4.2 innings of relief work and giving up eight runs, all earned, on 10 hits.
Though he only tossed 1.1 innings, junior hurler Ryan Schell looked strong as the starter. The Cochranton, Pa. native gave up no runs on one hit, no walks and added a strikeout.
Waynesburg is back in action tomorrow when they face Trine (Ind.) in a double-header starting at 1:15 p.m.
