WAYNESBURG, Pa. (April 14) – While Saturday's wild Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader with Saint Vincent may not have been fun for Waynesburg and Saint Vincent's pitching staffs, the crowd gathered around Waynesburg's sun-drenched home field was treated to plenty of entertaining offense-centered baseball on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets roared back from a 10-1 deficit to take game one 16-10, before a second monumental comeback try came up short as the Bearcats took game two 16-11.
Saturday's twin bill featured 55 base hits, 20 extra-base hits, eight homeruns and 22 walks, 16 of which came from SVC (9-13, 5-5). Waynesburg (7-17, 3-7) boasted a team batting average of .381 over the split.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, Waynesburg found itself in a 10-1 hole halfway through the contest. The home team cut into the lead with a three-spot in the bottom of the fifth, but bigger things were just around the corner.
After the Jacket pitching and defense finally figured out how to stymie the Bearcat bats, the Waynesburg offense opened up on the opposition to the tune of a nine-run sixth inning that put the Orange and Black in firm control of the opener.
Senior leftfielder
Tyler Godwin highlighted the offensive outburst with a three-run homer that made the score 10-9 in favor of the Bearcats. Sophomore catcher John Przybylinski tied the game with an RBI single before sophomore right fielder
Brenden Kohan launched a two-run bomb that gave Waynesburg a 12-10 lead. Junior centerfielder
Mitch Nordstrom capped the half-inning with a run-scoring single.
After picking up an unearned run in the seventh, junior second baseman
Tyler Reis clubbed his sixth homerun of the season, a two-run shot, in the eighth to bring about the final score of 16-10. Saint Vincent put a pair of runners on base in the ninth, but neither was able to cross home plate.
Five different Yellow Jackets took the mound for Waynesburg in the win. Sophomore
Colton Uzzell got the win in what wound up being one of his top appearances of the season. He worked a team-high three innings, during which he didn't allow a run on two hits and a walk. Uzzell logged a pair of strikeouts while earning the decision.
Surprisingly, neither team was able to push a run across the plate over the first two innings of play of game two. Saint Vincent opened the scoring in the top of the third to take a 1-0 lead. Waynesburg took its first advantage of the late contest thanks to an RBI double by Nordstrom and a run-scoring single by sophomore
Justin Buberl.
Unfortunately, the Bearcats were able to give their hosts a taste of their own medicine with a nine-run fourth inning that put the visitors up 10-2. After a scoreless fifth, SVC increased its lead to 12-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth. The Jackets outscored the opposition 9-4 down the stretch run of the contest, but it wasn't enough to complete the sweep.
Sophomore
Mason Miller, the first of five Yellow Jacket pitchers in game two, started and suffered the loss on the mound. He gave up seven runs, six of which were earned, on five hits and six walks over 3.1 innings of work.
Reis led the charge for the Jacket bats on the day. He went five-for-eight with a double, a homerun, four RBI and six runs scored over the split. The junior standout slugged an amazing 1.125, boasted a .727 on-base percentage and was successful on both of his stolen base attempts.
Godwin went four-for-10 with a homer, a double, five runs scored and four RBI.
Waynesburg is off until Tuesday, April 17, when it travels to Washington to face perennial PAC power Washington & Jefferson for a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
