April 17, 2012

Grove City falls on road

WAYNESBURG, Pa. -- The Grove City College baseball team dropped both ends of a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at Waynesburg. Waynesburg rallied for a 5-4 win in the opener and then took the second game, 16-5.

In the opener, Grove City charged out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. The Wolverines took a 1-0 advantage as sophomore shortstop Tom Hawley (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora) came home when junior DH Zach Struharik (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) reached on an error.

Senior second baseman Brandon Durbin (Zelienople, Pa./Seneca Valley) singled in junior first baseman Kyle Shock (Loudonville, Ohio/Hillsdale), doubling the lead. Durbin and Struharik then scored on a two-run double by freshman third baseman J.R. Willard (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland).

Waynesburg cut the lead in half with two runs in the third, then forged a 4-4 tie in the sixth. The Yellow Jackets took their only lead of the game in the bottom of the seventh on Kyle Sasala's game-winning single.

Willard went 2 for 3 in Game One. Grove City had three hits in the first inning but just two over the final six innings.

Junior Zach Butler (Massillon, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) pitched a complete game but took the setback. He allowed five runs in 6 1/3 innings.

Waynesburg led 8-0 in Game Two before Grove City broke through with a pair of runs in the fifth. Junior center fielder Josh Sacks (Columbia, Md./Chapelgate Christian) cracked a two-run single that scored sophomore catcher Evan Hoskinson (Uniontown, Ohio/Green) and sophomore second baseman John Rende (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic).

In the sixth, Hoskinson singled in Struharik, Rende drove in Willard with a sacrifice fly and junior right fielder Cameron Jones (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro) doubled in Hoskinson. Rende finished 2 for 2, Hoskinson went 2 for 3 and Struharik also singled twice.

Senior pitcher Andrew Krull (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) started and took the defeat. Freshmen Blaine Lang (Canfield, Ohio/Ursuline), Will Chaney (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg), Chris Curran (Lyndhurst, Ohio/Brush), Lee Coppock (Charlottesville, Va./Covenant School), C.J. Fitzgerald (Pittsburgh, Pa./Vincentian) and Tom Chaney (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) all pitched in relief.

Grove City (5-21, 3-11 PAC) will host Thiel Friday in a single conference game at 3 p.m.

Game One Box Score            Game Two Box Score

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