LAKELAND, Fla. (March 8) – The Waynesburg University baseball team faced off with Loras (Iowa) College during day two of its stay at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The Yellow Jackets led going into the ninth inning, but the Duhawks rallied to defeat the Orange and Black 11-9.
 
Waynesburg's (2-1) offense suffered through a bit of a slow start to the day as Loras (4-1) held a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning. However, momentum made a big swing into the Yellow Jackets' favor in the bottom of the frame.
 
Junior designated hitter Brent Williams started the rally with a leadoff double. Senior leftfielder Ben Shorthouse followed with a base knock of his own that, when combined with a Loras throwing error, put runners on second and third base with no outs.
 
Senior second baseman Neal Yakopin drove in Williams with a single that cut the Jacket deficit to 3-1. Senior leftfielder Eric Crum followed with a fourth-straight hit to make the score 3-2. After a Loras wild pitch put runners on second and third, sophomore shortstop Nathan Mori reached on a fielding error that allowed Yakopin to cross home plate and tie the game at 3-3.
 
Loras picked up its first out of the half-inning when Mori was caught trying to steal second base. However, Waynesburg fired right back with junior centerfielder Matt Bensinger tripling in Crum to give the Jackets a 4-3 advantage. A walk to sophomore first baseman Jonathon Kletzli was followed by junior catcher Tyler Rubasky getting hit by a pitch to load the bases.
 
Sophomore third baseman Cameron Bernhardt added to Waynesburg's lead when he was hit by a pitch, before Williams did the same with a walk. A double play ended the Jacket rally, but by the time the dust settled, the Jackets held a 6-3 lead.
 
Loras cut the Jacket advantage to one run (6-5) in the top of the seventh, but Waynesburg recovered the two scores in the bottom of the frame. Williams singled in Bensinger and Shorthouse grounded out to bring Kletzli across home plate and make the score 8-5.
 
Unfortunately, the Jackets couldn't make the lead hold up, as Loras exploded for six runs in the top of the ninth inning. Trailing 11-8 in the bottom of the frame, Waynesburg tried to piece together one last rally. Sophomore pinch-hitter Ben Miller led off with a solo homerun, but that was as far as the comeback attempt went.
 
Bensinger, Kletzli and Williams notched two hits each in the loss. Wiliams posted a team-high two RBI each, while Bensinger and Kletzli scored two runs each. Nine different Jackets combined for 12 hits on the day.
 
Sophomore Colton Lippencott started and worked just 1.1 innings, before turning the ball over to sophomore Jacob Meyer, who put together a very solid 5.1 innings of work. Meyer gave up two unearned runs on five hits and no walks to put the Jackets in position for a victory. Unfortunately, junior Derrick Zavatsky couldn't hold the lead and gave up six runs over 1.2 innings of work to take the loss.
 
Waynesburg is scheduled to return to the diamond tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. The Yellow Jackets will face Juniata in a seven-inning doubleheader.