GREENVILLE, Pa. (March 30) – The Waynesburg University baseball team hit the road on Wednesday for a seven-inning Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader at Thiel. After dealing with some cold bats through most of the opener, the Yellow Jackets started piling up the runs on their way to splitting with the Tomcats.
 
After falling behind 4-0 in the opener, the Jackets (5-11, 1-3) nearly pulled off a seventh-inning comeback, but came up just short in a 4-3 setback. Though game one ended in a loss, It gave a preview of what was to come, as the visitors exploded for a 16-6 win in the late contest.
 
Thiel (6-8, 2-2) opened the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first inning before adding a run in the second and another in the third to build its early advantage. Innings four-through-six saw neither team push a run across home plate. Waynesburg finally broke through in the top of the seventh and came one hit away from tying things up or grabbing the lead.
 
Freshman Aidan Williams (Shaler, Pa. / Shaler) led off the final frame with a double and moved to third on an error during the at-bat of graduate student Chris Lee (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park). Freshman Scooter Summa (Ellicott City, Md. / Chapelgate Christian Academy) came through with a pinch-hit single to load the bases for senior Cody Ray (St. Clairsville, Ohio / Union Local).
 
Ray broke up the shutout with an RBI groundout that made the score 4-1 as Williams sprinted home. Freshman Bryce Bedilion (Clarksville, Pa. / Jefferson-Morgan) continued his recent hot streak with a two-run single that cut Waynesburg's deficit down to a single score. With Bedilion on first and one out on the board, the Jacket rally stalled out as Thiel managed to record back-to-back outs to pull out the victory.
 
Though he took the loss on the mound, sophomore Mike Bell (Herminie, Pa. / Yough) put together a solid performance. He worked a six-inning complete game and allowed three earned runs on six hits with two walks. Bell tallied a pair of strikeouts in his most recent start.
 
Game two, which was a nine-inning affair, saw Waynesburg take its first lead of the day in the top of the first thanks to an RBI single courtesy of freshman Todd Burner (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South). The Tomcats answered with a two spot in the bottom of the frame that gave them their only lead of the contest.
 
An RBI groundout by Bedilion tied things up at 2-2. With two outs on the board, freshman Alec Engelmore (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler) came through with yet another clutch hit for Waynesburg that put his squad up 3-2.
 
Things really got going for the Jackets in the top of the third, as the first three batters reached to load the bases. After Thiel picked up an out, it gifted the opposition a run on a balk that made the score 4-2. The Tomcats looked like they were going to get out of the jam after logging out number two, but a Thiel error led to another run for the Jackets.
 
Now up 5-2, Bedilion drove in his third run of the day on a two-out single. Engelmore did the same in the next at-bat to run the Waynesburg advantage to 7-2.
 
Following a scoreless fourth inning, Thiel put together its biggest frame of the afternoon by scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth to pull within a run of tying the game.
 
The Jackets had an answer ready in the next half-inning, as they pushed five runs across home plate to jump ahead 12-6. Waynesburg efficiently combined three hits, two errors, two walks and a hit batsman as 11 batters came to the plate. Graduate student Brandon Durbin (Cresson, Pa. / Bishop Carroll) had the big hit of the inning, a two-run double, that made the score 11-6. Sophomore Zach Boslet (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona) logged an RBI base knock of his own.
 
Waynesburg added some fireworks to their day in the eighth thanks to a three-run homer by Burner, which was his team-leading third long ball of the 2022 campaign. All of them have come in the last six games.
 
The evening's final run came in the top of the ninth on a Bell RBI double.
 
Wednesday's offensive outburst was more than enough support for Engelmore, who picked up the win after working 4.2 innings of scoreless one-hit relief. He walked two and struck out three for his first collegiate win on the bump.
 
The Jackets outhit Thiel 15-9 in the win that snapped their five-game conference losing streak that stretched back to the 2021 campaign. Their 16 runs scored were the most since beating Saint Vincent 18-7 on April 28, 2019.
 
Bedilion posted two hits in each of Wednesday's contests, running his streak of games with multiple base knocks to five. He also drove in four runs over the split.
 
Burner added a three-for-eight showing with four RBIs, all of which came in game two, and two runs scored. He was one of six different Jackets to score twice in the win and 10 different Waynesburg players to score at least once.
 
Bell paced a patient Waynesburg effort at the dish with three walks in game two. The visitors racked up a whopping 11 free passes and saw two of their own hit by pitches as well.
 
The Jackets are scheduled to be back in action on Friday, April 1, when they travel to Grove City. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.