BETHANY, W.Va. (April 8) – Offense took center stage during Saturday's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) baseball doubleheader between Waynesburg and Bethany. The two teams combined for 37 runs over 18 innings as they split the twin-bill.
 
A three-run eighth inning gave Bethany (14-10, 2-4) a 9-6 win in game one, before the Yellow Jackets (9-15, 5-5) exploded for 18 hits in a 16-6 victory in the late contest.
 
Waynesburg never led in the opener, as the Bison posted the game's first three runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Jackets cut into the deficit in the top of the third, when sophomore Alec Engelmore (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler) smacked a two-run double that scored sophomores Seth Burgdolt (Taylorstown, Pa. / McGuffey) and Bryce Bedilion (Clarksville, Pa. / Jefferson-Morgan).
 
A three-run homer by Bethany in the top of the fourth, gave the Bison a game-high four-run lead at 6-2. The Jackets cut that deficit in half thanks to RBI singles by junior Marcos Mendez (Ponce, Puerto Rico / Westminster (Md.)) and freshman Gavin Pratt (Carmichaels, Pa. / Carmichaels) in the fifth.
 
Waynesburg completed the comeback in the sixth when Bedilion drilled his PAC-leading fifth triple that allowed senior Todd Burner (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South) to make the score 6-5. Bedilion scored to tie things up on a sacrifice fly by Burgdolt one batter later.
 
Unfortunately, momentum swung back to Bethany's favor in the bottom of the eighth with the final three scores of the opener.
 
Waynesburg racked up 11 hits in game one, including a game-high three by Engelmore. Bedilion, Mendez and Pratt tallied two knocks apiece. Bedilion also scored a pair of runs.
 
Freshman Dalton Lucey (Holbrook, Pa. / West Greene) got the start on the mound and suffered the loss after allowing eight runs, only five of which were earned, on 11 hits and a walk. The first-year righty recorded four strikeouts in his latest start. Engelmore worked the final inning of the contest and gave up one unearned run on a hit and struck out a pair of opposing hitters.
 
Waynesburg took advantage of a pair of first-inning errors and combined them with three singles for a three spot in the top of the inning. The lead was short-lived, as the Bison tied things up in the bottom of the frame.
 
The Jackets regained the advantage in the second thanks to a two-run homerun by Burner and a two-run double by Engelmore. Again, Bethany responded in its half of the inning by getting two runs back. Waynesburg led 7-5 heading to the third, and maintained that advantage until the fourth, when Bedilion scored on an Engelmore groundout and Mendez doubled in Pratt.
 
Already up 9-5, the Orange and Black blew the game wide open in the top of the seventh. Bedilion started the big inning with an RBI single and was followed two batters later with a one-run base knock by junior Mike Bell (Herminie, Pa. / Yough). Engelmore followed with the big blow of the inning: a two-run triple that pushed Waynesburg ahead 13-5.
 
Mendez struck again by allowing Engelmore to score on a single grew the Jacket lead to nine runs.
 
The burly first baseman put the finishing touches on a potent day at the dish by slapping a two-run double in the top of the ninth that made the score 16-5. Bethany scored the game's final run in the bottom of the ninth, but that's as close as it came to staging a monumental comeback.
 
Engelmore put on a hitting clinic by going four-for-six with two singles, a double, a triple, five RBIs and three runs scored. Mendez posted a three-for-five effort in game two with two doubles, five RBIs and a run scored. Bedilion recorded three hits of his own and scored three times. Pratt also scored three times after singling twice and drawing a walk. Bell, Burner and junior Nolan Vertullo (Pittsburgh, Pa. / South Fayette) each crossed home plate twice.
 
The offensive outburst allowed Bedilion to improve his record on the mound to 2-0 on the season with a nine-inning complete game. He allowed five earned runs on 11 hits and four walks. The second-year lefty logged four strikeouts in the victory.
 
Waynesburg returns to the diamond on Tuesday, April 11, when it leaves PAC play for a doubleheader at Penn State Behrend. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.