April 18, 2015

Wolverines snap skid, split with Westminster

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College baseball team's bats finally came alive as the Wolverines poured on 17 hits in a 17-10 Game Two victory to snap a six-game losing skid and earn a doubleheader split with rival Westminster on Saturday afternoon at R. Jack Behringer Field. The Wolverines (10-18 overall, 6-12 PAC) fell to the Titans (15-19, 9-11) 9-3 in the day's first game.

Sophomore first baseman Matt Waugaman (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) led the Wolverine offense by going 4 for 8 with two RBI, a triple and a home run in the doubleheader while sophomore right fielder Nolan Myers (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield) also was 4 for 8 with three RBI. Sophomore catcher Andy Fritz (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch) stayed hot, going 3 for 7 with a double and a team-high five RBI while sophomore third baseman Brandon Gresh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Keystone Oaks) also added three hits on the day.

In the Game Two victory, Grove City jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first by taking advantage of a Westminster error. Sophomore shortstop David Laylock (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pine-Richland) led off the inning with a double and freshman left fielder Drew Landis (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion) moved him to third with a sacrifice bunt. A Waugaman single would score Laylock, and Waugaman would move around to third on a single by sophomore designated hitter Nick Fryer (Medina, Ohio/Medina). Fryer would steal second and the throwdown attempt would go awry, allowing Waugaman to score and Fryer to advance to third. Fritz then stepped to the plate and brought Fryer home on an RBI-groundout to make it a 3-0 game.

Grove City tacked on six more runs in the bottom of the second, doing the majority of their damage with two outs. Sophomore second baseman Josh Hodges (Johnson City, N.Y./Johnson City) led off the inning with a single and would advance to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman center fielder Tyler Graham (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area). A Laylock flyout would allow Hodges to tag up and advance to third, and Landis sent Laylock home with an RBI-single to extend Grove City's lead to 4-0.

Landis would steal second and advance to third on a Waugaman single, and Fryer would hit an RBI-single to score Landis and move Waugaman to second. Fritz followed with an RBI-single of his own, scoring Waugaman and moving Fryer to second to give Grove City a 6-0 lead and prompt a Westminster pitching change.

The change didn't matter, as Grove City continued to single Westminster out of the game. Gresh would hit an RBI-single to score Fryer and a Myers single would send both Fritz and Gresh home to push the Wolverine advantage to 9-0 before Westminster finally got out of the inning.

The Wolverines took advantage of two Titan errors in the third to pile on five more runs. Graham would earn a walk to lead off the inning and move to second on a Laylock single. A fielding error would allow Landis to reach first and load the bases, but it looked as if Westminster might have a chance to get out of the jam when a Waugaman line drive comebacker to the pitcher allowed the Titans to double Laylock off of second. That idea would be quickly squashed as Fryer drew a walk to reload the bases and Fritz drilled a single into the outfield that allowed both Graham and Landis to score and make it an 11-0 game.

Following another Westminster pitching change, Gresh would reach on another error, allowing Fryer to score, and a Myers RBI-single allowed Fritz to come home. Hodges would draw a walk to load the bases once again, allowing Gresh to score on a Graham RBI-single to make it 14-0 Wolverines through three innings.

Westminster would answer back with five runs in the top of the fourth and add yet another in the top of the fifth to close the gap to 14-6, but the Wolverines got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth on a Laylock sacrifice fly that scored Myers.

The Titans would continue to fight, closing within 15-9 on a three-run home run by Jake Haubrich in the top of the sixth, but that's as close as they would come. Waugaman answered with a leadoff, solo home run that sailed well over the right field fence in the bottom of the inning, and the Wolverines added a second run following three Westminster errors to push the lead back to 17-9.

Grove City gave up a single run in the top of the seventh, but the Wolverines eventually got their third out to end the game at 17-10.

Sophomore Anthony Marnejon (Columbiana, Ohio/Crestview) earned his first collegiate victory on the mound, allowing six runs on nine hits while striking out a pair in four and one-third innings of work. Junior Ryan Gallagher (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) and senior Chris Curran (Lyndhurst, Ohio/Brush) each pitched one and one-third innings in relief.

In the opener, Grove City fell behind early, giving up five runs in the top of the first. The Wolverines would get one run back in the bottom of the inning, as multiple Titan errors allowed Laylock to advance all the way to third during his at bat, and Landis moved him home with an RBI-groundout to close the gap to 5-1.

Westminster would add on two more runs in the top of the second and another in the top of the fourth to stretch their lead to 8-1.

Grove City trimmed the lead to 8-2 in the bottom of the fifth. Myers led the inning with a single and advanced all the way to third on a Gresh single, coming home to score two batters later when Laylock reached on an RBI fielder's choice.

Both teams would add a run in the sixth inning, as Waugaman tripled and Fritz followed with an RBI-double for the Grove City tally.

Sophomore Ben Finlan (State College, Pa./State College) went the distance on the mound for Grove City in the loss, allowing 11 hits and nine runs (six earned) over seven innings.

Grove City returns to action on Tuesday, hosting Geneva in a single, nine-inning PAC game at 4 p.m.

Game One Box Score   Game Two Box Score

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