WAYNESBURG, Pa. (March 26) – The Waynesburg University baseball team hosted Washington & Jefferson in a battle of teams boasting 3-0 President's Athletic Conference (PAC) records on Tuesday. The Presidents took both ends of the doubleheader by the final scores of 8-4 and 8-2.
The opener was billed as a showdown of two of the PAC's top pitchers. Waynesburg (9-10, 3-2) trotted out 3-0 junior
Mason Miller (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park), who had given up one earned run in his first three starts (0.45 ERA) and a conference-best 29 strikeouts. The Presidents (10-7, 5-0) countered with Garrett Harstine, who came in with one earned run allowed over 15.1 innings pitched and a 2-1 record.
W&J opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first inning, but Waynesburg tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. With two outs on the board, freshman leftfielder
Luke Winterbottom (Monongahela, Pa. / Ringgold) came up with a single and came around to score when senior designated hitter
Tyler Godwin (Bridgeville, Pa. / South Fayette) drilled a triple into leftfield.
After a scoreless third inning, the Presidents regained the advantage with a run in the top of the fourth off a solo homerun. Unfortunately things unraveled for the home team in the top of the fifth. After putting two outs on the board, a wild pitch extended W&J's advantage to 3-1. A pair of Jacket errors opened the flood gates, as the visitors tacked on five more runs in the frame and jumped ahead 8-1.
Despite being down seven runs, Waynesburg didn't give up on the opener and pulled to within four runs with a three-run bottom of the sixth. Junior second baseman
Justin Buberl (Westminster, Md. / Westminster) launched a two-run homer that plated senior centerfielder
Mitch Nordstrom (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park).
Two batters later, Winterbottom picked up another RBI on a fielder's choice that made the score 8-4. The Jackets were able to put a pair of runners on base with two outs, but couldn't add to the rally.
Waynesburg had a chance to continue to chip away at its deficit by putting two runners on with one out on the board in the bottom of the seventh. Unfortunately, back-to-back popups ended the inning and the game.
Miller wound up posting more impressive numbers than Harstine, but suffered his first loss of the season. The righty gave up six runs, only two of which were earned, on eight hits and three walks. Miller racked up eight strikeouts over just 4.2 innings on the mound.
Freshman
Joe Sabolek (Lynwood-Pricedale, Pa. / Belle Vernon) gave the Jackets a chance at a comeback with two shutout innings out of the bullpen. He allowed two hits and struck out two Presidents.
Game two saw W&J build an 8-0 lead after six innings of work. The Jackets scored their two runs of the game in the eighth on a passed ball and an RBI single by senior third baseman
Tyler Reis (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Penn Hills).
Junior
Jonny Kutchman (Johnstown, Pa. / Richland) got the start on the mound and gave up four runs, three of which were earned, on five hits and two walks. Kutchman logged a pair of strikeouts. He was followed by a quartet of relievers that closed out the late contest.
Nordstrom spearheaded the Waynesburg offense by going three-for-six on the day with a run scored.
After playing seven of their last nine games at home, the Yellow Jackets hit the road on Friday for a single nine-inning PAC game at Bethany. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
