Box Score
BETHANY, W.Va. (April 9) – For the second-straight game, the Waynesburg University baseball team scored at least 15 runs and pounded out at least 18 hits as they rolled to a 17-6 win over Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) rival Bethany on Friday.
With the victory, the Yellow Jackets are now 8-13 on the season and 4-6 in PAC play. The loss dropped the Bison to 10-8 on the year and 2-5 in conference action.
The Jackets jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning after sending all nine hitters in their batting order to the plate. Senior second baseman Wes White Jr led off with a walk and got all the way to third on a pair of wild pitches. Two batters later, junior centerfielder Rob Cool Jr recorded the first of his game-high five RBI on a groundout to the shortstop. After back-to-back singles by junior shortstop Anthony DeFilippo and junior first baseman Bill Hanning, sophomore left fielder Kenny Grant drove in a run on a single of his own. Sophomore right fielder Nick Berdine followed with a run-scoring single of his own to make the score 3-0. The final run of the inning came home on a fielding error.
Despite the big outburst by the visiting team, Bethany didn't' give up, and recorded five runs of their own off of sophomore starting pitcher Mike Neckerman, who only lasted two-thirds of an inning before being replaced by junior Jesse Gonzalez.
With Gonzalez cooling off the Bethany bats, Waynesburg's sticks stayed red hot as Cool drove in White, who led off the top of the second with a double, on another groundout to short that tied the game at 5-5. The Yellow Jackets took the lead for good in the top of the fourth with three runs on two hits, a walk and an error. Cool drilled a two-run double down the leftfield line to plate a pair of runs and put his team up 8-5.
Though Bethany was able to cut the lead down to 8-6 in the bottom of the fourth, a combination of costly errors and more Jacket hits sealed the deal. After a scoreless fifth, Waynesburg exploded for five runs in the top of the sixth, all of which came after a two-out error by the Bison. DeFilippo and Hanning each recorded two-run base knocks in the breakout frame. When the dust finally settled, Waynesburg was ahead 13-6.
The visitors put the final touches on the win in the top of the seventh with four more runs. Another error helped the Jackets' cause, as did a two-run double by Grant.
During the win, every Waynesburg starter recorded at least one hit, including DeFilippo, Hanning and Grant, who tallied three hits each. White scored a game-high four runs, while Cool and Grant racked up five and four RBI, respectively. The Jackets offense was aided by six Bethany errors.
Gonzalez pitched 8.2 innings of solid relief to pick up the victory. The righty allowed just one run on four hits and four walks, while picking up one strikeout.
The Jackets will look for a season sweep of Bethany on Saturday, April 10, when they host the Bison in Waynesburg for a PAC doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
