WASHINGTON, Pa. (May 12) – The Saint Vincent baseball team picked up a pair of victories to stay alive in the 2023 Presidents' Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Tournament and advance to the tourney's championship round on Saturday against host and top seed Washington & Jefferson.
In the opener, Michael Klingensmith threw 8.2 stellar innings on the mound, while SVC racked 15 hits enroute to a 7-4 victory over Westminster.
In game two, the Bearcats came back from an early 3-1 deficit to earn a 13-6 victory over Grove City. The Bearcat offense stayed hot, tallying 14 hits, including eight for extra bases, and broke the game open with nine runs over the sixth and seventh innings.
With the two wins, Saint Vincent will take on W&J in the championship round at 1 p.m., and will need to beat the Presidents twice in order to earn the PAC crown and earn the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III playoffs.
GAME ONE: Saint Vincent 7, Westminster 4
Behind a balanced offense and a stellar start from pitcher Michael Klingensmith, the Saint Vincent baseball team stayed alive in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament with a 7-4 win over Westminster.
Klingensmith earned the win by going 8.2 innings and allowing four runs with four strikeouts, before giving way to Casey Jones, who recorded the game's final out with a strikeout to earn the save.
The Bearcats out-hit the Titans 15-11, with eight different SVC players recording at least one hit and five registering multi-hit games. Connor Bannias was a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored, while Jordan Sabol finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored, Alex Hess 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Dalton Nicklow 2-for-4.
Saint Vincent got on the board first in the bottom of the second. Sabol led off with a hustling double down the left field line, before Nicklow followed with a two-bagger of his own to give the Bearcats a 1-0 lead. With one out, Devin Bonine then reached on an error, advanced to second on a balk, took third on Bannias' first hit of the game and scored on a Hess single to left field to make it 2-0.
The lead was short-lived, however, as the Titans batted around in the top of the third and scored four runs on five hits, with the big blast a three-run Brandon Cooper home run, to take a 4-2 lead.
Momentum went back to the Bearcats in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Billy Perroz and Sabol laced back-to-back singles. Perroz was retired on a fielder's choice off the bat of Bonine, before Bannias smashed a double to the gap in left-center to plate Sabol and Bonine and make it 5-4. Two pitchers later, Hess smacked a single up the middle to bring home Bannias and up the Bearcat to two runs.
The teams would trade zeroes over the next three frames, before the Bearcats added on an insurance tally in the bottom of the seventh. Sabol led off the frame with a bunt base-hit, advanced to third on an opposite-field single from Bonine and scored on a Bannias sacrifice fly to right field to open up a 7-4 lead.
In the top of the eighth, Klingensmith pitched around a one-out infield single to keep the Titans off the board, before quickly retiring the first two batters in the top of the ninth. The next two runners would reach via a single and walk, putting runners at first and second and bringing Jones in from the bullpen. The Bearcats' all-time strikeout leader would prevail after a seven-pitch at bat, notching the K to seal the win and earn his third save of the season.
GAME TWO: Saint Vincent 13, Grove City 6
The Bearcats' second elimination game of the day began as a pitcher's duel between SVC starter Jeremy Kreuzwieser and Grove City's Noah Cyphert, as the two teams combined for zero runs and three base runners over the first three innings.
The Bearcats finally cracked the scoreboard in the top of the fourth. With one out, Nicklow smacked a ground-rule double to center field, and promptly scored the game's first run two pitches later on a Billy Perroz single to center field.
The 1-0 lead was short-lived, as the Wolverines countered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, with Seth Cato's two-run home run following C.J. Saylor's RBI-single to make the score 3-1.
The Bearcats answered right back in the top of the fifth, as Bannias stroked a one-out triple to the right field corner and scored on a Hess sacrifice fly to right to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Saint Vincent would then erupt for a five-run top of the sixth. Nicklow's opened the inning's scoring with an RBI double over the third base bag to tie the game at 3-3. After Perroz was intentionally walked, Sabol singled to center to load the bases. Bonine would then work a five-pitch walk to plate Nicklow and give SVC a 4-3 lead, before Perroz and Sabol would each score on wild pitches to open up a 6-3 advantage. Hess then drew the Bearcats' fourth walk of the inning, and after a pitching change, Matthew Lockwich dropped a single into left field to plate Bonine and increase the lead to 7-3.
The Wolverines promptly cut the deficit to two in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run homer by Markus Williams, but SVC would continue to increase the lead in the top of the seventh. Perroz's triple off the fence in center field plated Nicklow, who led off with a walk, before Sabol's sacrifice fly brought home Perroz with SVC's ninth run of the game. Bonine kept the rally going with a double down the right field line, and would score two batters later when Hess reached on a throwing error. Lockwich then upped the advantage to 11-5 with a double down the left field line that plated Hess.
SVC added one run in the top of the eighth when Sabol singled home Nicklow, who drew a one-out walk. After the Wolverines scored one in the bottom of the eighth, Bannias opened the ninth with a double to the right field corner and scored on a Lockwich single to make it a 12-6 game.
Bearcat reliever Andrew Root then pitched around a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth to record the final three outs, capped off with a grounder to Hess at Short, to seal the victory.
Five different SVC players recorded multi-hit games. Perroz led the charge, going 3-for-4 with a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored, while Lockwich finished 3-for-5 with a team-high three RBIs. Nicklow finished 2-for-4 with two walks and four runs scored, while Sabol and Bannias each had two hits in four at-bats.
Kreuzwieser alloed three runs in four innings with two strikeouts for the no-decision, while Sean McAleer earned the victory in relief, allowing two runs on one hit in two innings of work. Jacob Hess allowed one run in 1.1 innings, while Root retired five of the six batters he faced over the eighth and ninth innings.
Saint Vincent will now face W&J for the PAC title for the second time in three seasons. The Bearcats will be searching for their first PAC title, and first conference championship since winning the NAIA's American Mideast Conference in 2004. W&J, who reached Saturday's title round with an 8-4 win in Thursday's opening round and a 4-3, 10-inning victory over Grove City on Friday, will be looking for its 15th PAC crown, and fourth in a row.