NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Thiel College baseball team downed the Westminster Titans in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader Friday afternoon.
Thiel shut down the Westminster offense in the first game, on the way to a 5-0 win in the first game. In the second game, Thiel knocked 21 hits in a 18-2 victory.
Jaden Nozicka pitched his second shutout of the season in the first game. Nozicka struck out five batters while only allowing seven hits and two walks.
Thiel scored first with three runs in the top of the second inning. Josh Doody scored the first run of the game on a fielder's choice RBI by Bryan Mitchell. RBI singles by Daniel Patrice and Matt Elko added two more runs in the inning.
Thiel pushed across runs in the sixth and seventh inning. Nick Grice plated Mitchell on a RBI double to left field in the sixth inning. In the top of the seventh, Trent Smith knocked a triple to deep left center field that scored Elko from first base.
Every Thiel starter reached base in the second game while eight of the nine starters recorded a hit in the blowout victory. Thiel scored two runs in the first, six in the second inning, one in the third inning, six more in the fourth inning and three in the fifth inning.
Smith and Doody each hit RBI singles in the top of the first to push Thiel out to an early lead. In the second inning, Smith knocked a single to left field that scored Elko and Nick Fowkes. After Thiel leaded the bases, Brian Genco crushed his fourth home run of the season with a grand slam that cleared the left center field fence.
Doody drove in the only run in the top of the third inning when Fowkes scored on a fielder's choice to give Thiel the 9-0 lead in the third inning. Westminster put two runs on the board in the bottom of the third inning to cut into the Thiel lead.
Thiel answered with six runs in the top of the fourth and three runs in the top of the fifth. In the fourth, Fowkes plated two runs when he hit a double down the left field line that scored Patrice and Bryan Mitchell. Elko chased Fowkes home with a triple to right center field. Dan Koller then hit a single over the third base bag to score Elko. Two batters later, Doody recorded a two RBI single to center field that scored Koller and Smith.
When Thiel loaded the bases in the fifth inning, Smith hit a three RBI double that one-hopped off the left center field fence to bring Patrice, Corey Arabia and Gustavo Cruz home.
The 18-run cushion was more than enough for Riley Schwertz to pick up his fifth win of the season. Schwertz set down six batters via strikeout and only allowed two earned runs. Patrick Fitzpatrick closed the bottom of the seventh out by retiring the Westminster side in order.
Thiel (16-6, 5-2 PAC) will finish the series against Westminster with a nine-inning game on Sunday, April 10 at 2 p.m. at Tomcat Park.