WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (March 10) – The Waynesburg University baseball team built a late lead against Muskingum during Thursday's game at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. Unfortunately, the Muskies rebounded for a big ninth inning en route to 13-12 win.
Waynesburg (1-6) fell behind Muskingum (4-2) after one inning of play, but responded in a big way over frames two and three. Junior right fielder
Luke Carter tied the contest 1-1 by scoring on an error during the at-bat of senior second baseman
Justin Smith. The Jackets took their first lead of the day off a three-run homer by senior left fielder
Matt Bensinger in the third.
The Orange and Black's advantage swelled to 5-1 in the top of the fifth when junior first baseman Jonathan Kletzli scored on a groundout RBI by Carter. Muskingum answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth and another in the sixth to tie the score at 5-5. Waynesburg regained the lead at 7-5 on RBI's by Bensinger and Carter in its half of the seventh, before the Muskies responded with two scores of their own in the bottom of the frame.
The Jackets looked poised to put the game away by breaking out for five runs in the top of the eighth. Sophomore designated hitter
Tyler Godwin made the score 8-7 with a run-scoring single, before Bensinger wrapped up a monster game with a grand slam pushed the Orange and Black advantage to 12-7. The four-run blast was Waynesburg's second of the spring.
Unfortunately, the Yellow Jackets were unable to close out the victory, as they gave up two runs in the bottom of the eighth and four more in the ninth. Waynesburg was holding a two-run edge with two outs on the board, but gave up a run on a balk and a walk-off two-run single.
The Jackets hurt their chances at victory by committing six errors against Muskingum. They were also out-hit by a slim 12-10 margin.
Bensinger had a day to remember at the plate, as he went three-for-five with two homeruns, eight RBI and two runs scored. Bernhardt added a three-for-three effort with three runs scored, while Kletzli also crossed home plate three times.
Senior
Brian Resnik got the start on the mound and pitched a no-decision after allowing five runs, four of which were earned on eight hits and a walk. The veteran standout struck out three Muskies on the day. Junior
Derek Whalen, who was the fourth of four Waynesburg pitchers to toe the rubber on the day, suffered the loss after giving up the game-winning run in one-third of an inning pitch.
The Jackets wrap up their stay in Florida tomorrow with a nine-inning game against Western New England. First pitch is scheduled for 9 a.m.
