April 25, 2009

Grove City earns split

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College baseball team kept its hopes alive for a berth in the season-ending Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament Saturday by splitting a doubleheader with visiting Washington & Jefferson in PAC action at College Field. W&J (11-4, 22-10) won the opener 9-4. However, Grove City earned a 10-6 win in Game Two.

Grove City posted five runs in the bottom of the first and added three more runs in the second during the nightcap. Senior shortstop Ben Wilson (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis) roped a two-run triple in the first inning while sophomore left fielder Butch Kriger (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) added a run-scoring triple later in the inning.

W&J forged a 5-5 tie in the top of the second but Wilson's run-scoring single in the bottom of the inning put Grove City ahead to stay. Senior first baseman Brad Stombaugh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) added an RBI single in the inning while junior DH Tyler Thompson (Lee, Maine/Lee Academy) drove in a run with a groundout.

Sophomore second baseman Andrew Patterson (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) extended the lead to 9-5 with a run-scoring single in the third while Thompson doubled in Wilson in the sixth with an insurance run.

Wilson and Stombaugh both went 3 for 3 while Kriger also doubled. Wilson scored three runs and also drove in three runs. Patterson finished 2 for 4.

Sophomore Cory Metcalf (Ashland, Ohio/Ashland) earned the win after allowing six runs in four-plus innings. Senior Matt Tindall (Copley, Ohio/Copley) worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fifth and did not surrender a run. He also pitched a scorless sixth. Junior Mike Herringshaw (Chardon, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) pitched the seventh.

In the opener, W&J broke the game open with a seven-run fourth inning. Kriger homered for the Wolverines while Thompson doubled. Stombaugh went 2 for 3. He is now hitting a team-best .455 this season.

Sophomore pitcher Kyle Silk (Akron, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) started and allowed nine runs (two earned) in 3 2/3 innings. Tindall threw 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief while sophomore Matt Smith (Albany, N.Y./Loudonville Christian) fired two scoreless innings out of the bullpen.

Grove City (12-17, 5-9 PAC) will visit Waynesburg (8-6 PAC) Monday at 3 p.m. in PAC action. Waynesburg is currently fourth in the league. The top four teams qualify for the PAC Championship Tournament May 8-10.

Game One Box Score            Game Two Box Score

Go back to Wolverine Baseball Home Page