WAYNESBURG, Pa. (March 20) – The Waynesburg University baseball team hosted Geneva Saturday afternoon looking to grab its first win of the season. The Yellow Jacket offense carried the team throughout both ends of the doubleheader, as they scored 27 total runs over 16 innings of action—beating the Golden Tornadoes in the first game 15-3 and in the second game 12-2.
Game one, which counted toward both teams' PAC records, saw contributions from each player in the Jacket starting lineup, with each of the nine batters recording at least one hit. Eight of them recorded at least one RBI. Junior pitcher
Joe Sabolek (Lynnwood-Pricedale, Pa. / Belle Vernon) grabbed the win after tossing 6.0 innings and allowing three runs on six hits with three strikeouts.
Sophomore left fielder
Joe Kraft (Munhall, Pa. / Steel Valley) drove in the game's first run in the bottom of the first with an RBI single to center. Geneva (2-3, 2-2) tied things back up at 1-1 in the top of the second, and Waynesburg (2-4, 1-3) didn't break back through again until the bottom of the fourth.
Kraft led off the fourth with a double. He was later brought home by freshman first baseman
Justin Clevenger (McDonald, Pa. / South Fayette) on a single. Following a costly two-out error by Geneva, freshman center fielder
Lane Ours (Moorefield, W.Va. / Belle Vernon) tripled to bring in two more runs. Junior catcher
Tyler Woodrow (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine-Richland) capped off the inning with an RBI-single to put the Jackets ahead 5-1.
The Golden Tornadoes got two runs back in the top of the fifth, but the Yellow Jackets responded right back in the bottom half. Senior right fielder
Brandon Durbin (Cresson, Pa. / Bishop Carroll) led off the inning with a home run, his first of the season, to extend the lead to 6-3. Waynesburg managed to push another run home on an RBI-single by senior shortstop
Tyler Srbinovich (Warren, Ohio / Niles McKinley).
The Jackets finished with a bang by tacking on five more runs in the seventh, which began with a solo home run by senior designated hitter
Chris Lee (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park). Three more runs came home in the eighth to bring the game to its final score and give Waynesburg its first win of the season.
Ours led the team in both RBIs (4) and runs (3) after reaching base four times from the leadoff slot. Durbin and Woodrow each added three hits in the contest while the Yellow Jackets totaled 19 as a team. Juniors
Cody Ray (St. Clairsville, Ohio / Union Local) and
Corey Fischer (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park) combined to pitch the final three innings and held the Golden Tornadoes scoreless over that stretch.
In game two, Geneva struck first in the top of the first inning, plating two runs on two hits. However, Waynesburg answered the call immediately, pushing across four runs of their own in the bottom half of the opening frame. Kraft took advantage of a one-out error by Geneva by blasting a three-run homer to cap off the inning.
The Yellow Jackets pushed two more runs in the bottom of the third inning thanks to Lee's second homer of the afternoon, a two-run shot.
Durbin drove in a run in the fourth inning, plating freshman second baseman
Nolan Vertullo (Pittsburgh, Pa. / South Fayette), to extend the score to 7-2 in favor of the home team.
The Waynesburg offense took advantage of control issues from Geneva's pitching staff in the sixth inning, scoring five runs on just one hit thanks to six walks and an error in the frame. Clevenger, who pitched the sixth and seventh innings in the late tilt, threw a scoreless seventh to bring the game to its final of 12-2.
The Yellow Jackets used four different pitchers in the contest, with freshman
Ryan Sullivan (Taylorstown, Pa. / McGuffey) grabbing the win following two scoreless innings of relief. The staff only allowed four hits and struck out eight Golden Tornadoes.
Waynesburg will be back in action to finish the four-game series with Geneva this Monday, March 22 in Beaver Falls, Pa. Both games with count towards each team's PAC record. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
