| A bloop double gave the Wolverine outfielder all four hits in the batting cycle on Friday. Grove City athletics photo by Rick Dayton |
BUTLER, Pa. -- Grove City College freshman left fielder Colton Lineman (Chapel Hill, N.C./Northwood) hit for the cycle Friday afternoon to help lead the Wolverines to a 7-0 win over Penn State Greater Allegheny in non-conference play at Kelly Automotive Park.
Lineman led off Friday's game with a home run, then tripled to lead off the fourth inning. He cracked a one-out single in the sixth inning, then completed the cycle in the eighth inning with a bloop double to left. He finished the game 4 for 5 with two runs scored and two runs batted in.
Meanwhile, four Grove City pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout. Sophomore Jacob Brothers (Aurora, Ill./Aurora Christian) allowed two hits in 5 2/3 innings. His earned run average remains 0.00 for the season through 16 innings.
Junior Austin Wacker (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Freshman Noah Sedmak (Falls Church, Va./Falls Church) pitched a perfect eighth inning and freshman Isaac Bowden (Fairfax, Va./Lake Braddock) retired all three men faced in the ninth inning.
Senior third baseman Micah Burke (Gilbert, Ariz./E.V.A.C.) singled three times for the Wolverines. Senior catcher Derek Boyle (Stafford, Va./Brooke Point) doubled and singled, as did junior shortstop Bobby Abbott (Westfield, N.J./Westfield). Sophomore DH Bubba Hamilton (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro) also belted a two-run double in the first inning.
Following Lineman's homer in the first, junior first baseman Matt Dayton (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) singled in senior center fielder Shane Hammel (Fort Collins, Colo./Fossil Ridge). Hamilton doubled in Dayton and Abbott while Boyle's double drove in Hamilton.
Hammel lofted a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, scoring Lineman. In the sixth, Lineman singled in freshman right fielder Joey Kolb (Riverside, Calif./Arlington).
The 8-5 Wolverines will host Hiram at 4 p.m. Monday in non-conference play at R. Jack Behringer Field. It will be Grove City's 2019 home opener.