WAYNESBURG, Pa. (April 17) – The Waynesburg University baseball team hosted Bethany for a nine-inning Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) contest on Friday. It was a frustrating day at the ballpark, as the Yellow Jackets dropped a 10-9 decision to the visiting Bison.
 
Things started slowly for the Jackets (13-13-1, 11-4), who fell behind Bethany (6-19, 2-13) 3-0 after two innings of work. The Waynesburg bats powered the home team into the lead during the bottom of the third, when the Orange and Black racked up seven runs.
 
Junior centerfielder Matt Bensinger broke up the shutout with an RBI single that plated senior leftfielder Ben Shorthouse. The next batter, sophomore first baseman Jonathon Kletzli, doubled home sophomore short stop Nathan Mori to make the score 3-2. Two batters later, sophomore third baseman Cameron Bernhardt tied the game up at 3-3 by singling home Kletzli.
 
After sophomore designated hitter Justin Davey walked to load the bases, senior right fielder Eric Crum pushed the go-ahead run across home plate with a fielder's choice play that made the score 4-3. Senior second baseman Neal Yakopin kept the ball rolling with an RBI single that pushed Bernhardt in to score. Following a pitching change by the Bison, Shorthouse capped the third inning with a two-run double that made the score 7-3 in favor of the home squad.
 
Bethany didn't wait long to respond to Waynesburg's outburst, as it scored three times in the fourth. The offensive fireworks continued when Bernhardt plated his team's eighth run of the day on a fielder's choice in the Waynesburg half of the inning.
 
The scoring calmed down over the next two innings, before Bethany tied the score at 8-8 in its half of the seventh. The Bison regained the lead (10-8) by scoring twice in the top of the eighth, but the Jackets were ready with an answer in the bottom of the inning. Bensinger singled in Shorthouse to cut the Jacket deficit in half at 10-9.
 
Waynesburg was able to shut the opposition down in the top of the ninth and set up a chance for victory in its final at-bats. Junior catcher Tyler Rubasky led off by being hit by a pitch and sophomore Josh Hausler came in as a pinch-runner. A walk to Bernhardt was followed by a sacrifice bunt by junior pinch-hitter Brent Williams that put the game-tying run at third base and the go-ahead score at second. The Bison intentionally walked Crum to load the bases, but the Jackets were unable to push a 10^th run across home plate.
 
Junior Derrick Zavatsky, the fourth of five different pitchers used by Waynesburg on the day, took the loss after giving up two runs, one of which was earned, on a hit, two walks and a strikeout over one inning of work. Sophomore Parker Beatty logged a team-high 4.2 innings on the day out of the bullpen and gave up three runs, only one of which was earned, on five hits and a walk. Control problems (eight walks, three wild pitches), wreaked havoc on Jacket hurlers.
 
Mori and Bensinger collected a team-high three hits each to pace the Waynesburg offense. Shorthouse and Mori tied for team lead in runs scored with two, while Shorthouse, Bensinger and Bernhardt tied for the game lead in RBI, with two each.
 
The Jackets will try to rebound from the disappointing loss tomorrow, when they travel to Bethany for a seven-inning doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.