LATROBE, Pa. (April 23) – The Waynesburg University baseball team completed a sweep of it three-game weekend series with Saint Vincent on Sunday. The Yellow Jackets were victorious by the final scores of 6-2 in game one and 11-8 in game two.
With the victories, Waynesburg (15-17, 9-8) moved into sole possession of fifth place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) standings. The Jackets are now 1.5 games behind Grove City for the fourth-and-final spot in the postseason conference tournament.
Senior pitcher
Luke Carter continued a solid final season with the Jackets by tossing his team-leading fourth complete game. He gave up a pair of earned runs, one in the first and one in the seventh, on 10 hits and two walks. Carter racked up five strikeouts in his second win of the year (2-5.)
After the Bearcats (13-18, 7-10) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, senior catcher
Ben Miller tied the game at 1-1 with a solo homerun in the fourth. One inning later, RBI singles by sophomore second baseman
Tyler Reis and freshman
Mitch Nordstrom staked the visiting team to a 3-1 lead.
A Saint Vincent error allowed Waynesburg's fourth run of game one to come home in the sixth. The Jackets put the finishing touches on their offensive work in game one when junior leftfielder
Tyler Godwin cracked a two-run single.
The Bearcats scored the game's final run in the top of the seventh, but that was as far as their comeback try came to fruition.
The late contest didn't' start well for the Orange and Black, as Saint Vincent grabbed a 4-0 lead after three innings of play. A solo homerun by Godwin in the top of the fourth got Waynesburg on the board. Later that inning, senior centerfielder
Josh Hausler drove in run number two of the game on a fielder's choice.
Things took a drastic turn in Waynesburg's favor during the top of the fifth inning. Still trailing 4-2, the Jacket bats erupted for nine runs on five hits, an error and an unbelievable four hit batsmen. Senior first baseman
Jonathon Kletzli singled in his team's third run of game two, before freshman catcher John Przbylinski was hit by a pitch that allowed the game-tying tally to trot home.
The next batter, senior shortstop
Nate Mori, put his team ahead with a run-producing single. Hausler next stepped to the plate and was plunked to keep the carousel on the base paths turning and give the Jackets a 6-4.
Freshman third baseman
Justin Buberl added a two-run single to the big inning, before Reis doubled in Hausler to make the score 9-4. Kletzli capped a three-RBI day with a two-run single that made the score 11-4. By the time the third out was recorded in the top of the fifth, 13 Jacket batters came to the plate.
To Saint Vincent's credit, the home team didn't go down without a fight. The Bearcats posted four runs in the bottom of the sixth, but senior
Scott Hefty came out of the bullpen to record a four-out save that gave the Jackets their fourth-straight win.
Freshman
Jonny Kutchman started and picked up the win on the mound. He gave up four runs, only two of which were earned, on six hits and no walks. Kutchman punched out five opposing hitters on Sunday.
Godwin and Kletzli both went three-for-seven at the plate, while Reis came up with four hits in 10 at-bats. The pair also drove in three runs each, while Reis scored four times in the sweep. The Jackets were helped out by seven walks, six hit batsmen and five Bearcat errors.
Waynesburg starts another crucial PAC series on Monday, when it travels to Thiel for a nine-inning matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
