WAYNESBURG, Pa. (March 18) – The Waynesburg University baseball team held its home opener on Sunday by welcoming La Roche to town for a doubleheader. After dropping the opener 9-0, the Yellow Jackets nearly salvaged a split before dropping game two 5-4.
 
Both Jacket (4-8) hits in the opener came courtesy of senior leftfielder Tyler Godwin, who went two-for-four at the dish. Sophomore Jonny Kutchman started and took the loss on the mound after working 2.1 innings in which he gave up five runs, four of which were earned, on six hits and two walks.
 
Game two again saw La Roche (9-3) take an early lead after it plated a run in the top of the first inning. However, sophomore starting pitcher Mason Miller settled down and posted goose eggs in frames two-through-four. Meanwhile, the Jacket offense finally found its rhythm and built up a 2-1 lead after four innings of play.
 
Waynesburg tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the third when Godwin connected on an RBI single that plated junior centerfielder Mitch Nordstrom. The Jackets took their first lead of the day when sophomore Vinny Monico lifted a sacrifice fly to center field that scored junior third baseman Alec Fantaskey in the fourth.
 
Unfortunately, the potent Redhawk bats woke up in the fifth and posted a four spot that gave the visiting team a 5-2 advantage it never relinquished. Waynesburg mounted a commendable comeback in its half of the inning when sophomore right fielder Brenden Kohan singled in junior second baseman Tyler Reis. Three batters later, Monico was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs on the board to make the score 5-4.
 
The Jackets put the game-tying run in scoring position with one out in the seventh, but left Kohan standing on third base when the final out of the contest was recorded on the day.
 
After managing just two hits in the opener, Waynesburg out-hit La Roche 10-9 in the late contest. Reis, Godwin, Fantaskey and Kohan collected two hits each in the one-run setback. Resi picked up his first triple of 2018.
 
Miller suffered the loss after allowing three runs, all of which were earned on six hits and a walk. He also struck out four Redhawks over 4.1 innings of work. Junior Brandon Lawless and freshman Tyler Srbinovich kept the home team in position to pull out a victory by not allowing a run over the final 2.2 innings. The duo combined to give up just one hit and no walks, while striking out three.
 
The Jackets are back in action on Wednesday, March 21, when they travel to Penn State Behrend. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m.