PITTSBURGH, Pa. (April 6) – The Waynesburg University baseball team traveled to Chatham on Saturday to open a weekend series with the Cougars. The Yellow Jackets battled their Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) opponents over the doubleheader and came away with two crucial league victories.
 
Waynesburg (13-12, 7-4) moved into a tie for second place in the PAC standings with a 10-7 win in game one and a come-from-behind 7-5 triumph in game two. The Jackets rushed out to a 10-1 lead after batting in the top of the sixth inning. Chatham (3-17, 0-8) mounted a comeback in the bottom of the frame by plating four runs to make the score 10-5. The Cougars tacked on two more in the bottom of the seventh, but sophomore Tyler Srbinovich (Warren, Ohio / Niles McKinley) moved in from right field to the pitcher's mound to get the game's final out and preserve the win.
 
Junior ace Mason Miller (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park) improved to 5-1 on the year after allowing five runs over six innings of work. He gave up five hits and walked four, but rang up eight opposing hitters. Freshman Corey Fischer (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Bethel Park) got the first two outs of the seventh before the ball was turned over to Srbinovich.
 
The late contest saw Waynesburg take a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on RBI singles by freshman catcher Tyler Woodrow (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine-Richland) and senior leftfielder Tyler Godwin (Bridgeville, Pa. / South Fayette). Chatham answered in front of its home crowd with a three-spot in its half of the frame to take its first lead of the day.
 
The host squad's lead grew to 4-2 in the bottom of the third, but the Orange and Black tied things up in the top of the fourth thanks to a clutch two-run single by junior second baseman Justin Buberl (Westminster, Md. / Westminster). Following a scoreless fifth, Waynesburg grabbed the lead for good with a trio of tallies in the sixth. Senior third baseman Tyler Reis (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Penn Hills) drilled a run-scoring triple, before Woodrow brought him home with single of his own.
 
Chatham scored its final run of the day in the bottom of the sixth, before the final three innings of the afternoon/evening saw nothing but zeroes in the line score. Srbinovich logged his second save of the day with a perfect ninth inning that included a strikeout, a groundout and a fly out that preserved the sweep.
 
Junior lefty Ty Wickline (Clarksburg, W.Va. / Liberty) improved to 4-2 on the mound after starting and working six innings on the bump. He allowed five runs on nine hits and two walks while punching up three strikeouts.
 
Srbinovich was the last of four Waynesburg relievers who combined to put up three shutout innings. Freshman Joe Sabolek (Lynnwood-Pricedale, Pa. / Belle Vernon), sophomore Zach Straub (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park) and senior Colton Uzzell (Fairfax, Va. / Bishop O'Connell) worked together to keep Chatham off the board in the seventh and eighth frames to set up Srbinovich for the save.
 
Godwin enjoyed perhaps his best day of the season on Saturday. He went five-for-seven at the plate with two doubles and two walks. The veteran outfielder also stole a base, scored twice and drove in three runs.
 
Reis was also impressive at the dish, going four-for-six with two singles, a double, a triple and three walks. He boasted an eye-popping .800 on-base percentage and slugged 1.167. The All-PAC infielder scored a team-high four runs over the two triumphs.
 
Junior Jonny Kutchman (Johnstown, Pa. / Richland) piled up a team-high six hits in 10 at-bats, two of which were doubles. He scored twice and drove in another, while converting all 22 fielding opportunities at first base.
 
Speaking of defense, Waynesburg was error-free in the field to back up its .425 team batting average.
 
The Jackets and Cougars meet up again on Sunday in Waynesburg for a nine-inning contest. First pitch is scheduled to be thrown at 3 p.m.