GREENVILLE, Pa. (April 16) – The Waynesburg University baseball team had a furious comeback effort thwarted late but bounced back with the Jackets' highest-scoring effort of the season in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader split at Thiel on Tuesday.
Trailing 8-1 after six innings in game one, Waynesburg tied the game at eight in the seventh and took a 9-8 lead in the eighth. The Tomcats scored a pair of unearned runs, including the go-ahead run on an obstruction call, in the bottom of the eighth to take a 10-9 victory. The Jackets bounced back with a XX-X run-rule victory in game two to earn the conference split.
The Jackets move to 18-13 on the year and 11-4 in PAC. Thiel moves to 10-15, 7-5 PAC.
Game 1 – Thiel 10, Waynesburg 9
Thiel scored three runs in the second, one in the third and added four unearned runs in the fifth to build an 8-1 lead heading into the seventh. The Tomcat lead could have been larger as the Jackets threw out three runners at the plate and another at third base in the first five innings.
After managing one hit and one run through the first six innings, the Jacket bats came alive in the seventh. A hit batter and consecutive singles loaded the bases and chased Thiel starter Alec Katon. Todd Burner (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South) smacked an RBI single, Mike Bell (Herminie, Pa. / Yough) lifted a sacrifice fly and a dropped fly ball brought in Waynesburg's third run of the inning.
Another Thiel error loaded the bases to bring the tying run to the plate with one out in the seventh. Lane Ours (Moorefield, W.Va. / Moorefield) worked a walk to bring home another run. After an infield fly, Trent Giraffa (Hanover, Pa. / Delone Catholic) ripped a two-out bases clearing double to tie the game at eight.
Dalton Mount (Sykesville, Md. / Westminster) singled to lead off the eighth, was sacrificed to second by Burner and scored to give the Jackets a 9-8 lead on a base hit by Bell.
A single, error and hit batter loaded the bases for Thiel in the bottom of the eighth. A two-out single to left tied the game. The Tomcats sent the runner on second to the plate and a collision between the runner and Seth Burgdolt (Taylorstown, Pa. / McGuffey) was ruled as obstruction to score the go-ahead run for Thiel.
Giraffa drove in three with his game-tying double in the seventh. Bell and Burgdolt both drove in a pair of runs. Mount and Alec Engelmore (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler) each scored twice.
The Jackets used four different pitchers in the ballgame. Six of Thiel's 10 runs were unearned. Mike McCready (Greensburg, Pa. / Greensburg Central Catholic) allowed four unearned run sin 2.2 innings. Hudson Pincavitch (Waynesburg, Pa. / Waynesburg Central) held Thiel to one unearned run in 2.1 innings.
Game 2 – Waynesburg 18, Thiel 1 (7 innings)
The Jackets scored six runs, all with two outs, in the top of the first inning and never looked back in a run-rule triumph in game two. Waynesburg continued to add on with two runs in the second, four in the third and four more in the fifth.
Waynesburg scored 16 of its 18 runs in the ballgame with two outs The Jackets went 14-for-23 with two outs and 16-for-31 with runners on base. The Jackets set season highs in runs, hits (19) and RBI (17) in the contest.
Aidan Williams (Shaler, Pa. / Shaler) went 3-for-3 and matched a team season high with five RBI. Engelmore and Giraffa joined Williams with three hits apiece. Engelmore and Bell each scored three times. Giraffa and Ours both drove in two runs and scored twice.
Ryan Opfer (Houston, Pa. / Chartiers-Houston) collected the win with a seven-inning complete game effort. He held the Tomcats to one earned run on six hits. Opfer struck out four and issued four walks.
The Jackets host Allegheny in a PAC doubleheader on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.