WAYNESBURG, Pa. (March 13) – The Waynesburg University baseball team hosted Grove City for a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader on Saturday. Both games were closely played affairs, but the Wolverines came out ahead in both halves of the twin bill.
 
Grove City (4-0, 3-0) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opener and held on for a 4-2 victory. The late contest followed a similar script as the visitors opened up a 3-0 advantage, before completing a sweep of the four-game season series with a 3-1 triumph.
 
Two specific groups of players shined brightest for Waynesburg (0-4, 0-3) on the day: freshmen and relief pitchers. Jacket bullpen pitchers worked a combined total of 8.1 innings and gave up just one unearned run on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts.
 
Freshman Justin Clevenger (McDonald, Pa. / South Fayette) started both games at first base and logged a four-inning relief effort in game two. He went a combined two-for-five at the plate with an RBI and drew two free bases when he was hit by pitches. The first-year lefty allowed one unearned run on a hit and two walks over four frames on the bump in the late contest.
 
Freshman Mike Bell (Herminie, Pa. / Yough) went two-for-four with a run scored in game one. First-year outfielder Lane Ours (Moorefield, W.Va. / Moorefield) had a hit in each of the day's two games, including a double in the late contest.
 
First-year infielder Nolan Vertullo (Pittsburgh, Pa. / South Fayette) came in off the bench to play second base in the first game and followed that up with a start in the middle bag in game two. He went a combined three-for-four with a run scored on the day.
 
Freshman infielder Marcos Mendez (Ponce, Puerto Rico / Westminster) started game two as the designated hitter and moved to first base for some field work. He logged his first collegiate hit in three at-bats.
 
By the end of the day, Waynesburg freshmen tallied eight of the team's 14 hits.
 
Senior Zach Straub (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park) got the start on the mound in game one and suffered the loss after allowing four runs, two of which were earned, on seven hits and a walk. He struck out four over 4.2 innings of work.
 
Trailing 4-0 in the sixth, Clevenger broke up the shutout with an RBI singled that plated Bell. The Jacket comeback continued in the eighth when junior middle infielder Ty Kildow (Bethesda, Ohio / Union Local) drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home Vertullo for the final run of the game.
 
Waynesburg found itself in a 3-0 hole and running out of time in the bottom of the seventh-and-final inning of game one. After loading the bases, Kildow came through in the clutch again, this time singling home senior outfielder Ryan Mills (Westminster, Md. / Westminster). Unfortunately, Grove City was able to halt the comeback try by posting three-straight outs with the bases still loaded and no outs on the board.
 
Freshman Ryan Sullivan (Taylorstown, Pa. / McGuffey) got the start and tossed three innings while taking the loss. He allowed two runs on five hits and a walk.