The SVC baseball team opened Presidents' Athletic Conference play with an 8-3 victory over Chatham in an evening contest in Pittsburgh.
Saint Vincent got on the board in the top of the second inning, when
TJ Dailey and
Nick LaCava both singled to start the inning. Â
Hunter Mills then singled home Dailey, and LaCava later scored on a ground out by
Tanner Yard, putting the Bearcats in front, 2-0. Â
The lead increased by a run in the fourth, when Dailey and LaCava once again got things rolling.  Dailey was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a single by LaCava.  Mills followed with a single to load the bases, and
Joe Rudzinski followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Dailey.
In the fifth,
Bobby Finn doubled with two outs, then scored on a
Matt Morrone single that put SVC in front, 4-0.
SVC starting pitcher
Brenden Lavely was strong through the first four innings, but a one-out single was hit off his body, and he was relieved by
Matt Evans. Â Evans picked up the final two outs of the inning to preserve the four-run lead.
The hosts got on the board in the sixth, scoring a pair of runs, taking advantage of a Bearcat error. Â With the score 4-2, the SVC bats went back to work. Â
Stone Holtzman singled and
Zach Barberich walked, putting two runners aboard. Â Finn bunted to move both runners ahead, then Morrone singled home Holtzman. Â Morrone stole second, and both runners were able to score on a LaCava single. Â The Bearcats added an unearned run in the 8th, before yielding an unearned run in the bottom of the 8th to close out the scoring.
Evans earned the win in relief, working 3 2/3 innings.  Lavely was credited with 4 1/3 scoreless innings, but by baseball rules did not work enough innings as the starting pitcher to get the win. Â
Casey Jones struck out the side in the 9th.
Offensively, LaCava had a solid day, going 4-for-5 with a pair of runs batted in.  Morrone, Holtzman and Mills each had two hits.
Saint Vincent is now 8-3 overall, 1-0 in the PAC. Â The teams will meet again on Sunday (March 24) in a doubleheader at 1PM at Bearcat Ballfield.
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