LATROBE, Pa. (April 9) – The Waynesburg University baseball team was defeated in a pair of Presidents' Athletic Conference games at Saint Vincent on Wednesday afternoon.
The Yellow Jackets (5-20, 1-7 PAC) led 2-0 early in game one and 3-0 in the opening inning and a half in game two but fell 7-5 and 6-4 to the Bearcats (13-14, 7-5 PAC). Waynesburg brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning of both games.
Game 1 – Saint Vincent 7, Waynesburg 5
Waynesburg led 2-0 early but Saint Vincent quickly answered with two runs in the second and third innings to lead the rest of the way. The Bearcats were ahead 7-3 going into the ninth.
In the ninth inning, the Jackets quickly loaded the bases with a hit batter and consecutive walks to bring the tying run to the plate with no outs. Saint Vincent trades runs for outs Waynesburg scored on a fielder's choice and sacrifice fly to trim the margin to 7-5. A flyout to right ended the ballgame.
Trent Giraffa (Hanover, Pa. / Delone Catholic) had an RBI single in the first and
Dalton Mount (Sykesville, Md. / Westminster) brought in a run in the second to give the Jackets their 2-0 edge after one-and-a-half innings. However, the Jackets stranded two runners each of the first three innings and the Bearcats answered with two runs in the second and third innings to lead 4-2.
Aidan Williams (Shaler, Pa. / Shaler) doubled and scored in the fifth on a fielder's choice but a double play prevented any more damage in the frame.
The Bearcats added an insurance run in the seventh and two in eighth as they escaped with the 7-5 win.
Saint Vincent outhit Waynesburg 11-9 and both teams turned two double plays in the ballgame.
Williams and Mount each had two hits, scored once and drove in a run. Williams doubled twice. Giraffa drove in two runs.
Ethan Erhard (Greensburg, Pa. / Hempfield) allowed five earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in 6.2 innings.
Alex Nicholson (Cortland, Ohio / Mathews) gave up two runs in the eighth.
Game 2 – Saint Vincent 6, Waynesburg 4
The Jackets scored three runs in the first two innings but again relinquished their advantage by the end of the third as Saint Vincent led the rest of the way.
Waynesburg used two hits and an error to score on a force out in the top of the first inning. Williams knocked a two-out two-run double in the second to push the Jacket lead to 3-0.
The Bearcats got a run back on a passed ball in the home half of the second and took a 4-3 lead with there in the third. Saint Vincent took advantage of four walks in the third and scored on a first and third play, a double play and a two-out RBI single to take the lead.
Waynesburg left a pair of runners stranded in the sixth while the Bearcats used three hits in four batters to extend their lead to 6-3.
Williams popped a solo home run in the seventh to narrow the margin to 6-4.
Waynesburg put two runners on with one away in the eighth but back-to-back quelled the thread. The Jackets brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth after a one out hit batsman but were held hitless the rest of the way as the Bearcats escaped with a PAC sweep.
Williams doubled, homered and drove in three. Giraffa and
Garrett Comer (St. Albans, W.Va. / St. Albans) each had two hits.
Waynesburg outhit Saint Vincent 11-9 but left 11 runners on base. The Jacket defense turned double plays in the first and third innings.
Gavin Pratt (Carmichaels, Pa. / Carmichaels Area) was tagged with the loss after allowing four earned runs and walking four in 2.2 innings.
Dalton Lucey (Waynesburg, Pa. / West Greene) gave up two earned runs and struck out four over the final 5.1 innings.
Waynesburg hosts Bethany in a PAC doubleheader tomorrow at 1 p.m.
