GROVE CITY, Pa. (April 23) – The Waynesburg University baseball team concluded Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play with a split at Grove City on Tuesday.
The Wolverines used a strong pitching performance to take a 9-2 victory in the opening game. Waynesburg bounced back with a 9-8 10-inning victory. Gavin Pratt (Carmichaels, Pa. / Carmichaels Area) launched a two-run homer in the 10th to secure the game-winning runs.
The Yellow Jackets move to 22-14 on the season and finish the 20-game league schedule with a 15-5 record. In 10 PAC doubleheaders, the Jackets notched six sweeps and three splits. Waynesburg's .750 conference winning percentage matches the 2000 squad that went 12-4 for the highest in program history. Grove City moves to 17-11 on the season and 8-4 in PAC play.
Game 1 – Grove City 9, Waynesburg 2
Grove City's Nick Guidas stymied the Waynesburg bats in game one. The Jackets managed just five hits against the left-hander with Lane Ours' (Moorefield, W.Va. / Moorefield) two-run home run down the left field line in the fifth inning accounting for both of the Waynesburg runs in the ballgame.
The Wolverines scored three runs off four hits in the fourth to open the scoring. Waynesburg struck back in the top of the fifth as Ours drove in Todd Burner (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South) with his long ball that snuck inside the foul pole down the left field line.
Grove City added four runs in the fifth and two more in the seventh to come away with the 9-2 win.
Ours was the only Jacket to have a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-3 with his two-run homer.
Ryan Opfer (Houston, Pa. / Chartiers-Houston) suffered the setback after allowing seven earned runs in 4.2 innings. Hudson Pincavitch (Waynesburg, Pa. / Waynesburg Central) gave up two runs in 3.1 innings of relief.
Game 2 – Waynesburg 9, Grove City 8 (10 innings)
With the score tied at six in the 10th inning, the Jackets put together a two-out rally. Aidan Williams (Shaler, Pa. / Shaler) worked a walk and made his way to third base on a base hit by Dalton Mount (Sykesville, Md. / Westminster) and a misplay in left field. Williams raced home and slid in under a tag on a wild pitch to give the Jackets a 7-6 lead. One pitch later, Pratt cranked his first home run of the season to make it a three-run Waynesburg edge.
A pair of walks in the bottom of the 10th brought the tying run to the plate with no outs for Grove City. A sharply hit ball to Mike Bell (Herminie, Pa. / Yough) turned into a double play with the Jacket third baseman stepping on third and firing over to first. A walk and single brought home a run for Grove City and brought the go-ahead run to the plate with two outs. After a walk, an infield single made it a 9-8 game. A force out at second ended the ballgame with the tying and winning runs in scoring position.
The Jackets took a 2-0 lead in the second inning with both runs scoring on the same play. With the bases loaded and one out, Garrett Comer (Ravenna, Ohio / Ravenna) sent a ground ball to first base to bring home Alec Engelmore (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler). The Wolverines looked to turn a double play on the batted ball but an errant throw allowed Ours to scamper home for an unearned run.
Grove City responded with a run in the home half of the second. Pratt doubled in the third and scored on a base hit by Burner to make it a 3-1 ballgame.
Both teams experienced a similar start to the fifth inning. Bell doubled in Mount and had runners on second and third with nobody out while leading 4-1. The Jackets left both runners stranded. Grove City scored a run and had runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the inning. However the Wolverines were able to bring home both baserunners with a sacrifice fly and an infield single to tie the game at four.
A two-base error on a failed pickoff attempt led to Grove City taking a 5-4 lead in the sixth with a two-out single. A walk, hit batter and wild pitch turned into another Wolverine run to make it a two-run ballgame.
Waynesburg knotted the game at six in the top of the seventh with Ours and Marcos Mendez (Ponce, Puerto Rico / Westminster (Md.)) knocking a pair of two-out RBI singles.
Reliever Matthew Corte-Gaskill (Wake Forest, N.C. / Knightdale) posted zeroes in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, the Wolverines put runners on first and second with nobody out with consecutive singles. Corte-Gaskill retired the next three hitters with flyouts to push the game into extra innings.
Corte-Gaskill collected up his second victory out of the bullpen in the last three days. He went 4.0 innings and allowed two earned runs in the 10th. Engelmore recorded the final out to pick up his second save of the season. Zach Scibelli (Ravenna, Ohio / Ravenna) was Waynesburg's starting pitcher and allowed four runs (one earned) in four innings of work.
Engelmore had three hits and scored twice. Pratt doubled, homered, drove in a pair and scored two runs. Mount had two hits, a walk and scored twice. Burner and Ours each drove in a run and scored in the game.
The Jackets play their final home games of the season on Saturday with a nonconference doubleheader against Juniata. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.