The Bearcat baseball team held on for an 8-7 win over Geneva College in the opener of a twinbill on the road, then won the nightcap by a score of 18-4.
The Bearcats got off to a quick start in game one, tallying five runs in the first two innings behind starter
Dave Culeton.
Tanner Yard singled to lead off the game then moved to third on a double by
TJ Kuny.
Greg Martin grounded out, scoring Yard with the game's first run. An inning later,
Bobby Finn singled to lead off the second, then moved to second when
Ramon Milke drew a walk. A
Nick LaCava single loaded the bases, then
Brennan Hoffer grounded out, scoring Finn to double the lead.
With two outs,
Chris Winkler singled home a pair of runs to make it 4-0, then Kuny doubled home Winkler with Saint Vincent's fifth run.
After the Golden Tornadoes got a run back in the bottom of the second,
Eddie Kilkeary led off the Bearcat half of the third with a solo home run, his fourth of the season. Later in the inning, with a couple of runners on, Hoffer doubled, clearing the bases and making the score 8-1.
After that, the Bearcats were kept in check, while Geneva chipped away at the lead. The score was 8-5 going to the 7th and final inning, but Geneva refused to give up, loading the bases with one out off reliever
Greg Martin. A sacrifice fly brought home a run to make it 8-6 but left Geneva down to its final out.
Luke Spisak came on in relief of Martin, but walked a batter to reload the bases, then the next batter also drew a walk to cut the margin to just one run.
Dylan Pietrantoni then came out of the bullpen to get a pop out to end the game. Usually a starter, Pietrantoni recorded his first collegiate save.
Culeton (2-2) was the winning pitcher, working the first five innings, walking three and striking out three while giving up five runs. Offensively, Kuny was 3-for-4, while Kilkeary and Milke each had two hits. Hoffer recorded 3 RBI.
In game two, Yard again singled to lead off the game, and later scored on a ground out by Kuny.
The hosts took the lead in the bottom of the third, scoring a pair of runs off SVC starter
Jimmy Malone, but the Bearcats stormed back in the top of the fourth.
After Martin struck out but reached on a passed ball, Kilkeary drew a walk. Finn then doubled in a run to tie the game. Milke's ground ball was misplayed, scoring Kilkeary with what would eventually prove to be the game-winning run.
Nick Amatucci kept the inning going with an RBI single that plated Finn, and Hoffer reached on an infield single, scoring Milke to make it a 5-2 game. After Yard walked to load the bases, Winkler cleared them with a double to right.
Geneva added a pair of runs in their half of the fifth to make it an 8-4 game, but the top of the 6th turned into one of the Bearcats' biggest innings in recent years. In all, 10 runs crossed the plate. Four straight walks brought in the first run of the inning, then then a wild pitch brought home another. The score became 11-4 after an RBI single by Kilkeary, then Finn singled home the game's 12th run.
After a Milke single again loaded the bases,
Patrick Mahon singled home Kilkeary. A walk to Hoffer and back-to-back hit batsmen (Yard, Winkler) brought home three more runs to make it 16-4, then
Patrick McElfish singled home the ninth run of the inning. A sacrifice fly by Martin plated the team's 18th run of the game.
Malone (3-1) earned the win, working 5 innings, walking two and striking out three.
Alex Augustine and
Matt Whittaker each worked one scoreless inning of relief. Augustine struck out the side, while Whittaker recorded a pair of strikeouts.
Finn was 2-4 with two runs scored and 2 RBI. Winkler was 1-2 with four RBI. As a team, Saint Vincent tallied 18 runs on 10 hits, drawing 8 walks in the game.
Saint Vincent is now 3-2 in Presidents' Athletic Conference play, and will host Geneva for a single, 9-inning game on Monday (April 3) at 4PM at Bearcat Ballfield.
