April 29, 2006

Grove City closes PAC play with sweep

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College baseball team improved to 23-10 overall and 11-7 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep of PAC rival Westminster. Grove City captured the opener, 10-1, then earned an 11-3 victory in the nightcap.

Grove City broke Game One open with a seven-run fifth inning. Sophomore third baseman Bryan Pierrot (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) roped a two-run double during the rally while senior shortstop MIke Ritter (Moon Township, Pa./Moon) capped the inning with a two-run homer.

Pierrot also roped a two-run double in the third inning that scored junior left fielder Chris Schwamberger (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison) and gave Grove City an early 3-0 lead. Schwamberger and sophomore DH Pat Messner (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) also doubled in the victory.

Pierrot went 3-for-4 with three runs batted in while sophomore catcher Ray Mertz (Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler) and freshman second baseman Ben Wilson (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis) both had two singles.

Senior starting pitcher Ryan Carr (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) fired a complete game, allowing no earned runs in seven innings. Carr (6-2) allowed just three hits and struck out five.

In Game Two, the Wolverines rallied from a 3-0 deficit with 11 unanswered runs. Grove City pounded out 17 hits in the victory.

Grove City took the lead for good with a four-run third inning. Messner belted a two-run single while Wilson added an RBI single. Mertz also picked up an RBI in the inning with a bases-loaded hit batsman. In the fifth, Pierrot cracked a two-runs single while senior right fielder Jerry Ott (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) capped Grove City's scoring with a three-run homer to right.

Sophomore pitcher Chris Bowser (Stow, Ohio/Stow) earned the victory, allowing one earned run in 5 1/3 innings. Junior reliever Justin Miller (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief.

Schwamberger, Pierrot and Wilson all went 3-for-4 in the win. Messner went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs while Ott went 2-for-3. Freshman first baseman Brad Stombaugh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) also had two hits while Mertz drove in a pair of runs.

Grove City will host Geneva Monday afternoon in a non-conference game at 4 p.m.

Game One Box Score            Game Two Box Score

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