LATROBE, Pa. (April 22)- The Saint Vincent baseball team battled it out with Bethany on Wednesday afternoon at Bearcat Ballfield, and Saint Vincent came away with their second walk-off win in four days, defeating the Bison 7-6.

The Bearcats scored in the bottom of the ninth on an errant throw by the Bison, scoring Jordan Sabol to win the game. Saint Vincent (22-9, 18-3 PAC) has now won 18 of their last 19 games.

Just as the other two matchups between these two teams this season, it was a back-and-forth game throughout, starting with a high scoring first inning.

Bethany (14-19, 6-15 PAC) loaded the bases with three straight hits to start the game. Saint Vincent starting pitcher, Aaron Stephan then induced a 6-4-3 double play, but the runner from third scored to give the Bison a 1-0 lead.

The Bearcats responded back immediately in the bottom of the first. Santana walked to lead off the inning, then Casey Jones and Jordan Sabol both singled, loading the bases. T.J. Dailey followed the singles up with a single of his own, scoring Santana, tying the game at 1-1.

Zach Barberich stepped in and hit an RBI groundout to first, scoring Jones, giving the Bearcats a 2-1 advantage. Jake Saiani then ripped a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Sabol, increasing the lead to 3-1 in favor of Saint Vincent. The Big inning continued as Zach VonStein hit an RBI single to center, scoring TJ Dailey, giving the Bearcats a 4-1 lead at the end of the first.

Saint Vincent compiled six hits in the high scoring first inning, batting around in their order.

Bethany answered back in the top of the second. After a groundout to start the inning, Derek Black singled and stole second, followed by a walk, loading the bases for Bethany. Colton Stoneman then hit into an RBI fielder's choice scoring Black to cut the Bearcats lead to 4-2.

After reaching on the fielder's choice, Stoneman was picked off at first, but not before Mike Hines crossed home plate, making the score 4-3 in favor of the Bearcats. The Bearcats went down in order in the bottom of the inning as the game headed to third inning.

Bethany then took their first lead of the game in the fourth inning. The Bison plated two runs on two hits, giving them a 5-4 lead.

The Bison wouldn't hold the lead for long, as the Bearcats tied it up in the bottom of the fourth inning. Kyle Belmont led the inning off with a single up the middle and advanced to second on an LJ Evans sacrifice bunt. Santana then knocked in Belmont for his first RBI-single of the day, tying the game at 5-5. Santana reached second on a passed ball, but Bethany escaped trouble ending the inning with a strike out, keeping the game tied going into the fifth inning.

Both the Bearcats and Bison offenses quieted down in the fifth and sixth innings. There was just one hit combined in those innings, as the game remained tied at 5-5 heading to the seventh. 

In the top of the seventh, Bethany broke the tie, scoring one run. Alec Berg singled to center scoring Cory Newman to give the Bison a 6-5 lead. The Bison held that lead, keeping the Saint Vincent bats silent in the bottom of the inning, as the game moved to the eighth inning.

Bethany threatened to score in the eighth, but relief pitcher Justin Wright worked out of trouble to hold the Bison scoreless in the inning.

The Bearcats tied it up in the bottom of the inning. Matt Lockwich was hit by a pitch after pinch hitting for VonStein. Austin Tirpak pinch hit for John Evans and walked, giving the Bearcats runners on first and second with no outs.

Julian Santana then roped an RBI single scoring Lockwich, tying the game up at 6-6. The Bearcats threatened to score more but they couldn't plate any more runs in the inning, as the game was tied heading to the ninth inning.

Bethany once again put two runners in scoring position in the top of the ninth, but Wright worked out of trouble again, keeping the game tied as the Bearcats came to bat with a chance to walk it off, for the second time in less than a week.

In the bottom of the ninth, Sabol led off with a walk, followed by an infield single for Dailey. Billy Perroz then grounded into a fielder's choice, advancing Sabol to third, who represented the winning run.
Saiani was intentionally walked, loading the bases for Lockwich, who then reached on a fielder's choice to score Sabol from third after a throwing error, ultimately allowing the Bearcats to win in walk off fashion, 7-6. 

Santana led the way for the Bearcats with three hits, a walk, two RBIs, and one run scored. Sabol, Dailey, and Belmont all had two hits each. Dailey also had one RBI in the win for Saint Vincent.
Stephan threw seven innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on 10 hits, striking out three, and walking two. Wright picked up the win in relief for Saint Vincent, pitching two innings, giving up no runs on two hits, with one strikeout and two walks.

Kevin Pollock and Berg each had three hits to lead the Bison.

The Bearcats will get a couple days of rest, before heading on the road to take on Westminster in a 1 p.m. doubleheader, on Saturday, April 30. The two teams will then conclude the three-game series with a 9-inning single affair at Bearcat Ballfield on Sunday.