CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. (May 8) – The Waynesburg University baseball team saw its run at this year's PAC championship tournament come to an end on Friday. The Yellow Jackets fell 5-1 to Washington & Jefferson in a semifinal game, before losing a heart-breaking 9-8 decision to Thomas More in an elimination contest.
 
Waynesburg (21-18-1) broke a 0-0 tie in the top of the fifth inning, when senior right fielder Eric Crum teed off on a solo homerun to make the score 1-0. Unfortunately, the Presidents (27-14) responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, two more in the sixth and one more in the eighth en route to the victory. W&J advanced to tomorrow's championship game.
 
Sophomore Luke Carter put together four shutout innings before allowing four runs, three of which were earned, on eight hits and three walks over 5.2 innings pitched. Sophomore Parker Beatty allowed the game's final run over his 2.1 innings on the mound.
 
The offenses took center stage from the get-go in the late contest, as sophomore catcher Ben Miller doubled in senior leftfielder Ben Shorthouse to put Waynesburg ahead 1-0. Thomas More (29-11) responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame to go ahead 2-1. Waynesburg rebounded with a pair of runs in the top of the second thanks to a Crum RBI single and a sacrifice fly by sophomore shortstop Nathan Mori.
 
The Jackets appeared to take control of the contest in the top of the fifth when Miller teed off on his team-leading sixth homerun of the year, a two-run blast that put Waynesburg ahead 5-2. Unfortunately, the Saints had other plans and plated five runs in the bottom of the inning that gave the host team the lead at 7-5.
 
To Waynesburg's credit, the Orange and Black didn't lose its composure and regained the lead over the next three innings. The Jackets tied the game back up with one run in the sixth when senior Matt Bensinger walked with the bases loaded, and senior second baseman Neal Yakopin singled in sophomore third baseman Cameron Bernhardt in the seventh. Waynesburg jumped back ahead of the Saints in the eighth when sophomore Jonathon Kletzli executed a beautiful squeeze bunt that allowed sophomore pinch-runner Josh Hausler to sprint home and make the score 8-7.
 
The Saints showed how they earned the number-one seed in the tournament by tying the score at 8-8 in the bottom of the eighth. Thomas More ended the contest by combining a double with a walk-off throwing error in the ninth.
 
Sophomore David Cross took the loss in relief of sophomore starter Jacob Meyer. Cross worked 0.2 innings and was the third Jacket to toe the rubber in game two. Meyer allowed seven runs, all of which were earned, on 10 hits and a walk.
 
Shorthouse, Yakopin and Crum collected three hits each on the day. Miller went two-for-three in game two with a team-high three RBI and a run scored.
 
Waynesburg will have to wait and see if their season will continue with a bid to the ECAC Southwest Tournament. The announcement is expected to be made on Monday, May 11.