March 24, 2012

Grove City earns split at Bethany

BETHANY, W.Va. -- The Grove City College baseball team split a Presidents' Athletic Conference road doubleheader against Bethany Saturday afternoon at Bethany Park. The Wolverines rallied for a 5-4, eight-inning win in Game One. Bethany bounced back for a 7-2 win in the second game.

In the opener, senior second baseman Brandon Durbin (Zelienople, Pa./Seneca Valley) broke a 4-4 tie by leading off the eighth inning with his first collegiate home run. Durbin's blast capped a comeback in which the Wolverines erased a four-run deficit.

Bethany led 4-0 after two innings but Grove City broke through in the third when junior left fielder Zach Struharik (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) singled in sophomore shortstop Tom Hawley (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora).

In the fifth, Struharik roped a single that drove in junior right fielder Cameron Jones (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro), cutting the lead to 4-2. Grove City then tied the game in the sixth as freshman catcher Pete Garthwaite (Youngstown, Ohio/Ursuline) singled in junior first baseman Kyle Shock (Loudonville, Ohio/Hillsdale) and Jones squeezed home sophomore third baseman Evan Hoskinson (Uniontown, Ohio/Green).

Struharik finished the game 3 for 4 and Hoskinson went 2 for 4.

Junior pitcher Max Vickerman (Zelienople, Pa./Seneca Valley) earned the win by firing seven innings. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra innings. Freshman Blaine Lang (Canfield, Ohio/Ursuline) worked the eighth and earned his first save.

Bethany took a 3-0 lead into the sixth inning of Game Two but Grove City again rallied. Hoskinson singled in sophomore DH Ryan Parker (Houston, Pa./Chartiers-Houston), trimming the lead to 3-1. Hoskinson later scored when Jones reached on a bases-loaded hit batsman.

Bethany broke open the game in the bottom of the sixth with a four-run outburst, however.

Struharik went 2 for 4. Three Bethany pitchers combined to hold Grove City to five hits.

Junior pitcher Zach Butler (Massillon, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) pitched into the sixth but took the defeat. He allowed five earned runs and did not walk a batter. Lang recorded the final three outs.

Grove City (3-12, 1-2 PAC) will visit Westminster Tuesday afternoon for a conference doubleheader at 1 p.m.

Game One Box Score            Game Two Box Score

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