MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (April 7) – The Waynesburg University baseball team clubbed four late-inning home runs to lift the Jackets to a pair of one-run victories over Bethany in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader at Dale Miller Field on Sunday.
Lane Ours (Moorefield, W.Va. / Moorefield) crushed a go-ahead three-run home run in the seventh inning to power Waynesburg to a 6-5 win in the opening game.
Mike Bell (Herminie, Pa. / Yough) blasted a three-run shot in the eighth and
Seth Burgdolt (Taylorstown, Pa. / McGuffey) swatted home runs in the eighth and ninth innings, including a walk-off three run bomb in the ninth, to deliver the Jackets to a 9-8 win.
Game 1 – Waynesburg 6, Bethany 5
The Jackets took an early 2-0 edge in the opening game on a two-out two-run single by
Alec Engelmore (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler).
Bethany's Josh Speaker tied the game with a two-run homer in the third and gave the Bison a 4-2 edge in the fifth with another two-RBI hit. Bethany's lead grew to 5-2 by the end of the fifth.
The Jackets went down in order in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Waynesburg came alive in the seventh as the Jackets loaded the bases with nobody out. A run came home on a groundout before Ours knocked a go-ahead three-run homer to give Waynesburg a 6-5 lead.
Bethany put the tying run on third base with two outs in the eighth but
Mike McCready (Greensburg, Pa. / Greensburg Central Catholic) punched out the next batter to close the frame.
The Bison put a runner on in the ninth before McCready slammed the day and picked up his first collegiate win.
Engelmore went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Ours drove in three runs with his late-inning longball.
Waynesburg starter
Ethan Erhard (Greensburg, Pa. / Hempfield) went 6.0 innings, allowed five runs on nine hits. He struck out five and walked three. McCready did not allow a run in three innings of relief. He allowed two hits and struck out one.
Game 2 – Waynesburg 9, Bethany 8
The Jackets fell behind 7-1 going into the bottom of the eighth in game two.
The Jackets put a pair of runners on and Bell brought both home with a three-run homer to cut the score to 7-4. Burgdolt followed Bell with a solo shot of his own.
Trent Giraffa (Hanover, Pa. / Delone Catholic) added an RBI single to trim the margin to 7-6.
Bethany added an insurance run in the top of the ninth to carry an 8-6 lead into final half inning.
Todd Burner (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South) worked a one out walk and advanced to third on a towering single to the right-field fence by Bell. After a pitching change, Burgdolt crushed his second home run of the day to walk off the Bison and clinch a Waynesburg sweep with a 9-8 victory.
Gavin Pratt (Carmichaels, Pa. / Carmichaels Area) got the start in game two and struck out 10 in 5.2 innings. He allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits and four walks.
Alex Nicholson (Cortland, Ohio / Mathews) allowed 2.1 runs in three innings of relief. Bell earned the win after allowing just one run in the ninth.
Burgdolt went 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double, four RBI and two runs scored. Bell had three hits, a home run and four RBI. Burner scored twice.
The Jackets head to Westminster for a PAC doubleheader on Tuesday.
