BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (March 22) – The Waynesburg University baseball team traveled to Geneva Monday afternoon looking to build off a doubleheader sweep of the Golden Tornadoes on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets and GT's battled back and forth across two close contests, but unfortunately for Waynesburg, Geneva edged out a doubleheader sweep by scores of 4-3 and 6-5.
 
Waynesburg (2-6, 1-5) held the advantage for the majority of the first game, a seven-inning affair. The Yellow Jackets got on the board first in the top of the second when junior second baseman Ty Kildow (Bethesda, Ohio / Union Local) fought off multiple two-strike pitches to eventually draw a bases-loaded walk and give his team a 1-0 advantage.
 
Geneva (4-3, 4-2) tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom half of the frame, but Waynesburg took the lead back in the top of the third when a ball hit by freshman first baseman Justin Clevenger (McDonald, Pa. / South Fayette) was mishandled, which resulted in two Yellow Jacket runs to give them a 3-1 lead.
The Golden Tornadoes got one back in the third on a fielder's choice and tied things back up in the fifth on an RBI single.
 
Geneva loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh frame, and Waynesburg was able to get two outs in the process. However, a well-placed infield single to second base pushed across the game-winning run for a Geneva walk-off victory.
 
Starting pitcher Cody Ray (St. Clairsville, Ohio / Union Local) tossed 5.0 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with two strikeouts. Junior catcher Tyler Woodrow (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine-Richland) and senior right fielder Brandon Durbin (Cresson, Pa. / Bishop Carroll) each tallied two hits in the opener.
 
Waynesburg started off the second game, a nine-inning contest, by again scoring the first run in the bottom of the second thanks to a Geneva error on a ball hit by freshman centerfielder Zach Boslet (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona). The Golden Tornadoes tied the contest up in the bottom half of the second, and then took a 2-1 lead one inning later. The Yellow Jackets tied the contest back up at 2-2 thanks to an RBI infield single from Kildow.
 
Geneva plated three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-2 lead, but the Yellow Jackets refused to go away. Kildow reached on an error in the top of the sixth with two men on, which allowed sophomore leftfielder Joe Kraft (Munhall, Pa. / Steel Valley) to score and cut the deficit to 5-3. Then, in the top of the seventh, senior catcher Chris Lee (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park) tripled home Durbin to bring the score to 5-4. Kraft tied the score at 5-5 in the next at-bat with a sacrifice fly to center field.
 
Geneva answered immediately in the bottom of the seventh, plating one run on an RBI single to bring the game to its final score of 6-5. Waynesburg had a runner in scoring position in the top of the eighth, but couldn't bring him home.
 
Kraft was the lone Jacket to have multiple hits in the second game, going two-for-four with an RBI. Starting pitcher Zach Straub (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park) went 6.0 innings on the mound, allowing four earned runs on six hits and two walks with one strikeout. As a team, the Yellow Jackets left 10 men on base in the late contest.
 
Waynesburg will look to rebound on Saturday, March 27, when it hosts Chatham for a PAC doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.