April 22, 2008

Grove City sweeps Geneva; win streak now 5

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College baseball team extended its win streak to five Tuesday afternoon by sweeping a doubleheader with rival Geneva at College Field. Grove City picked up a 3-0 win in the opener, then secured a 12-8 victory over the visiting Tornadoes in Game Two.

In the opener, junior Zach Hillegas (Bridgeport, W. Va./Bridgeport) and senior Chris Bowser (Stow, Ohio/Stow) combined for a three-hit shutout. Grove City (13-10) then collected 19 hits in the nightcap en route to the sweep.

Hillegas took a no-hitter into the fifth inning of Game One and allowed just one hit in five innings. He struck out three and walked three. Bowser, pitching in relief for the first time since 2006, allowed just two hits in four innings to earn his first collegiate save. Bowser faced just nine batters over the final three innings.

Grove City scored single runs in each of the first three innings. Freshman right fielder Scott Moran (Columbia, Md./Chapelgate Christian) doubled home junior left fielder Seth Thompson (Canton, Ohio/GlenOak) in the first inning to put the Wolverines up 1-0. Thompson then added a run-scoring single in the second inning while a sacrifice fly from senior second baseman Bryan Pierrot (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) in the third closed the game's scoring.

Thompson went 2 for 4 while Moran also singled. Junior first baseman Brad Stombaugh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) went 2 for 3 and scored a run.

Grove City bolted to a 7-1 lead in the first inning of the nightcap as the Wolverines took advantage of three Geneva errors. Freshman right fielder Butch Kriger (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) roped a two-run double in the inning while Thompson capped the inning with a single that scored freshman catcher Adam Zimmerman (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell).

Geneva (13-13) pulled to within 7-4 in the third but Grove City countered with a three-run inning. Sophomore first baseman Tyler Thompson (Lee, Maine/Lee Academy) singled and then scored on a Seth Thompson double. Senior center fielder Brian Moran (Columbia, Md./Chapelgate Christian) and senior DH Raymer Mertz (Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler) followed with run-scoring singles.

Kriger finished the game 4 for 5 with two runs scored while both Seth and Tyler Thompson each collected three hits. Zimmerman also had a career-high three hits. Junior shortstop Ben Wilson (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis) and Brian Moran both singled twice.

Brian Moran also stole three bases, giving him 23 for the season and 52 for his career. The 52 stolen bases are a new Grove City career record, breaking the mark of 51 set by Rennie Petre from 1965-69.

Grove City used six pitchers in the nightcap with freshman reliever J.T. Seelman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) earning the win with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Freshman Steve Stombaugh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) recorded the final out of the sixth while sophomore Mark Scriven (Gibsonia, Pa./Dutch Fork, S.C.) tossed a scoreless seventh.

Sophomore Michael Herringshaw (Chardon, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin), this week's Presidents' Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week, allowed one hit in two innings of work. He also recorded his PAC-leading sixth pickoff of the season.

Senior Jon Coyne (Solon, Ohio/Solon) started and pitched 2 1/3 innings. Coyne yielded four runs. Junior Matt Tindall (Copley, Ohio/Copley) pitched 1 2/3 innings and struck out two. Tindall also surrendered four runs.

Grove City will host Fredonia State Thursday in a non-conference doubleheader at 2 p.m. 

First Game Box Score            Second Game Box Score

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