April 17, 2014
Wolverines drop two to Saint Vincent
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College baseball team dropped a pair of Presidents' Athletic Conference games to Saint Vincent, falling 5-3 and 9-3 on Thursday afternoon at R. Jack Behringer Field.
In the first game, Saint Vincent (14-17, 9-9 PAC) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Wolverines (7-18, 5-11 PAC) cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning when a single by senior third baseman Matt Corner (Slippery Rock, Pa./Slippery Rock) scored freshman shortstop David Laylock (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pine-Richland).
The Bearcats extended their lead to 4-1 with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, but Grove City once again made it a one-run game with two of their own in the bottom of the sixth.
Sophomore designated hitter Travis Royer (Elverson, Pa./Twin Valley) and Corner hit consecutive one-out singles, and freshman right fielder Nolan Myers (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield) reached on an error to load the bases. A groundout by senior second baseman John Rende (West Homestead, Pa./Central Catholic) scored Royer to make it a 4-2 game and, after freshman catcher Nick Fryer (Medina, Ohio/Medina walked to load the bases once more, freshman outfielder Jimmy Palmer (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) drew an RBI-walk to cut the lead to 4-3.
Saint Vincent added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning before holding on for the victory in the bottom half.
Sophomore Ryan Gallagher (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) took the loss on the mound, allowing 10 hits and four runs (three earned) over six innings while striking out three. Freshman Anthony Marnejon (Columbiana, Ohio/Crestview) allowed one run on one hit while pitching the seventh.
In the nightcap, Saint Vincent scored five runs in the top of the first and added another in the second to take an early 6-0 lead.
Grove City would score two in the fourth and one in the fifth to close the gap to 6-3. Freshman first baseman Matt Waugaman (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) doubled to lead off the fourth and came home on a Royer single to get the Wolverines on the board. Myers reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on an error while Rende drew a walk. Freshman outfielder Kyle Witzberger then notched his first collegiate RBI with a single that scored Myers from second to cut the Bearcat lead to 6-2 through four.
Laylock would reach on an error to start the fifth and moved to second on a groundout by freshman catcher Andy Fritz (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch). After stealing third, Laylock came home to score on a Waugaman RBI-sacrifice fly to make it a three-run game.
The Wolverines would threaten with the bases loaded and just one out in the bottom of the sixth, but a pair of strikeouts ended the threat.
Saint Vincent added three runs in the top of the seventh before holding on for the win and doubleheader sweep.
Freshman Ben Finlan (State College, Pa./State College) dropped the game two decision, allowing seven hits and six runs (four earned) over three innings. Junior Chris Curran (Lyndhurst, Ohio/Brush) pitched two hitless and scoreless innings of relief while junior Kenny Saltsman (Salem, Ohio/Salem) allowed just one hit in a scoreless sixth inning.
Grove City will host Geneva Tuesday at 1 p.m. in a conference doubleheader at R. Jack Behringer Field.
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