PITTSBURGH, Pa. (May 6) – The Waynesburg University baseball team traveled to Chatham on Thursday for a single nine-inning game with the host Cougars. The Yellow Jackets combined a solid day at the plate with a quality start from freshman
Ryan Sullivan (Taylorstown, Pa. / McGuffey) to score a 7-2 victory.
Waynesburg (12-18, 9-17) jumped out to an early lead by tallying a two-spot in the top of the first inning. Senior
Ryan Mills (Westminster, Md. / Westminster) led off the game with a double and came around to score in the next at-bat, when freshman
Nolan Vertullo (Pittsburgh, Pa. / South Fayette) drilled a run-scoring triple.
After a flashy start to the day, the Jackets leaned on its ability to play small ball to score its next four runs. A groundout by freshman
Mike Bell (Herminie, Pa. / Yough) sent Vertullo sprinting home with the game's second run. The Waynesburg advantage doubled in the third thanks to RBI groundouts by Bell and junior
Brandon Durbin (Cresson, Pa. / Bishop Carroll).
A fourth-straight RBI groundout recorded by senior
Chris Lee (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park) in the fifth expanded the Jacket advantage to 5-0.
Chatham (9-22, 8-16) posted its only two runs of the day in the seventh. Waynesburg rebounded with the final two runs of the day in the top of the eighth. Sophomore
Joe Kraft (Munhall, Pa. / Steel Valley) drilled a run-scoring triple and was followed two batters later by Mills, who brought Kraft home on, appropriately, another RBI groundout.
The Jackets outhit Chatham by an 11-5 margin. Three of those hits came courtesy of freshman
Justin Clevenger (McDonald, Pa. / South Fayette), who posted a three-for-three effort with a double and a run scored. Vertullo added a pair of hits to the winning effort.
Sullivan was almost untouchable through his first six innings on the hill, during which he gave up three of his five total hits allowed. Over seven frames on the bump, the first-year hurler yielded one earned run on five total hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Junior
Corey Fischer (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park) closed things out with two perfect innings during which he struck out one batter.
Waynesburg plays its final two home games of the season on Saturday, May, 8, when it hosts Franciscan for a senior day doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.