AUBURNDALE, Fla. (March 5) – The Waynesburg University baseball team made its annual journey south to compete in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational this weekend. The Yellow Jackets opened their week-long trip by facing Clark (Mass.). Waynesburg fell 10-3.
 
The Jackets (0-3) gave up a run in the first, a run in the second, two in the third and two more in the fourth and found themselves in a 6-0 hole. Clark (1-1) tacked on two more in the top of the sixth to move ahead 8-0, before Waynesburg was able to break up the shutout with a three spot in the bottom of the frame.
 
Junior Nolan Vertullo (Pittsburgh, Pa. / South Fayette) brought home junior Mike Bell (Herminie, Pa. / Yough) with an RBI double to make the score 8-1. Two batters later, junior Marcos Mendez (Ponce, Puerto Rico / Westminster) plated senior Todd Burner (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South) with a run-scoring single. The Jackets tacked on their final run of the day when Vertullo sprinted home on a passed ball.
 
Unfortunately, Clark was able to keep the Orange and Black off the board for the remainder of the day and added runs in the eighth and ninth to close out the contest.
 
Bell and freshman Gavin Pratt (Carmichaels, Pa. / Carmichaels) paced the Waynesburg offense with two hits each.
 
Sophomore Alec Engelmore (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler) got the start on the mound and suffered the loss after allowing six runs, four of which were earned, on six hits and a walk. He also posted three strikeouts over his second start of the year.
 
Freshman Dalton Lucey (Holbrook, Pa. / West Greene) tossed two innings of scoreless relief, while classmate Zach Scibelli (Ravenna, Ohio / Ravenna) didn't allow a run over 1.2 innings of work.
 
The Jackets are back in action on Monday, when they are scheduled to face Eastern Mennonite. First pitch is set for 9:45 a.m.