WAYNESBURG, Pa. (April 27) – The Waynesburg University baseball team honored its seniors and matched the program's single-season wins record with a nonconference doubleheader split against Juniata on Saturday afternoon.

Juniata used a pair of home runs to earn a 5-3 victory in game one. The Jackets took advantage of three Eagles errors to score four in the first inning of game two and hold on for a 6-4 victory.

Waynesburg moves to 23-15 on the season, tying the 2003 squad for the winningest season in team history. Juniata moves to 13-21.

Game 1 – Juniata 5, Waynesburg 3

Neither team led by more than two runs at any point in the opening game of the doubleheader. The Jackets took a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Mike Bell Herminie, Pa. / Yough) ripped an RBI triple and scored on a base hit off the bat of Alec Engelmore (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler).

Juniata tied the game at two with a pair of runs in the third and took a 4-2 lead in the fourth after a solo home run and an unearned run.

Garrett Comer (St. Albans, W.Va. / St. Albans) knocked a two-out triple in the sixth and scored on a single by Alex Deitrich (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Hills). The Jackets proceeded to load the bases with two walks but were unable to add any more runs as a groundout closed the frame.

Juniata used a solo home run in the eighth to extend its lead to 5-3. The Jackets brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth but were held off for a Juniata victory.

Comer and Dalton Mount (Sykesville, Md. / Westminster) each had two hits in the ballgame. Comer and Mount each tripled and scored.

Dalton Lucey (Waynesburg, Pa. / West Greene) was tagged with the defeat. He went 6.0 inning and allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits. Lucey induced three double plays in the game's first five innings. Gavin Pratt (Carmichaels, Pa. / Carmichaels Area) allowed one run in three innings of relief.

Game 2 – Waynesburg 6, Juniata 4

Waynesburg took advantage of three Juniata errors in the first inning of game two to put four runs on the scoreboard. Marcos Mendez (Ponce, Puerto Rico / Westminster (Md.)) knocked an RBI single and the Jackets scored three more runs on errors to lead 4-0.

The Eagles brought home a run with a sacrifice fly in the second but Waynesburg starter Ethan Erhard (Greensburg, Pa. / Hempfield) left a runner stranded on second.

Juniata had runners on first and third with one out in the sixth when the Jackets called upon Matthew Corte-Gaskill (Wake Forest, N.C. / Knightdale) out of the bullpen. Corte-Gaskill posted back-to-back strikeouts to close the frame.

Waynesburg tacked on a run with a double steal allowing Hunter Mamie (Eighty Four, Pa. / Ringgold) to scramble home to give the Jackets a 5-1 advantage.

The Eagles battled back in the eighth with three runs. A two-out two-run single made it a 5-4 ballgame. Juniata loaded the bases before Ryan Opfer ended the threat with a strikeout.

Waynesburg responded with an insurance run in the home half of the eighth. Mendez lifted a sacrifice fly to extend the Jacket lead to 6-4.

Opfer sat down the Ealges in order to earn the save and clinch the Jackets' 23rd win of the season.

Mendez and Todd Burner (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South) each had two hits in the nightcap. Mendez drove in a pair and Burner scored once.

Erhard earned his third win of the season. He allowed one run in 5.1 innings with five strikeouts

The Jackets close the regular season next Saturday at No. 2 Denison.