WAYNESBURG, Pa. (April 8) – The Waynesburg University baseball team hosted Bethany for a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader on Wednesday. The Yellow Jackets rallied in the opener but fell 12-7, and followed that up with a 12-4 defeat in game two.
The Bison (17-8, 7-3) opened up a 7-2 lead after 3-plus innings. Waynesburg (10-16, 1-7) took advantage of a key Bethany error and used its proficiency in bunting to tally three runs through some controlled chaos. Freshman
Jose Lopez, Jr. (Lewis Center, Ohio / Olentangy Orange) led off with a walk and moved to second on a bunt single from senior
Noah Gabriel (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler). After Lopez stole third, the bases were loaded on a bunt single from sophomore
Kaden Flambard (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park).
After the Bison logged the first out of the frame, a failed pickoff try from Bethany's pitcher allowed Gabriel and Lopez to score and make the score 7-4. Freshman
Brody McMillan (Griffin, Ga. / North Henderson) put down the third productive bunt of the inning to bring Flambard home and cut the deficit down to just two (7-5).
The Jackets completed the comeback in the fifth by manufacturing two more runs. Freshman
Eli Boring (Latrobe, Pa. / Greater Latrobe) led off with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and stole third following a walk by senior
Hunter Hamilton (Holbrook, Pa. / West Greene). After Hamilton advanced to second on a wild pitch, freshman
Weston Winchester (Tuckasegee, N.C. / Smoky Mountain) scored Boring with a groundout.
The home team knotted the score up at 7-7 when Gabriel lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to send Hamilton sprinting across the plate.
Unfortunately, the Jackets were unable to build off the momentum of back-to-back productive innings and failed to add to their run total. Bethany, meanwhile, scored two runs in the seventh and three in the ninth to lock down the victory.
Boring and Hamilton tallied two hits each to pace the Waynesburg offense in game one. Seven different Yellow Jackets logged at least one hit each in the loss.
Senior
Dalton Lucey (Waynesburg, Pa. / West Greene) suffered the loss after allowing two runs on five hits over three innings of relief of senior
Ethan Erhard (Greensburg, Pa. / Hempfield).
Bethany scored a run in the top of the first and three more in the second to build a lead they never relinquished in the late contest. The Jackets got on the board with a Flambard RBI single in the fourth, before the Bison tallied the next five runs to lock up the victory.
Nine different Waynesburg hitters tallied a base knock each in the late contest.
The Jackets get right back to work tomorrow with a road trip to fellow PAC member Grove City. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.
