WASHINGTON, Pa. (May 12) – The Saint Vincent College baseball team saw its season come to an end with an 8-2 defeat to Westminster College in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament.
Saint Vincent managed just three hits on the afternoon, while stranding six runners on base.
The Bearcats were forced to play from behind for the second time in as many days, with Westminster scoring one run on two hits in the bottom of the first.
Saint Vincent answered back in the third inning.
Zack VonStein and
Kyle Belmont drew walks to lead off, before
John Evans singled to load the bases.
Julian Santana would follow by drawing the third walk of the inning to bring home VonStein and tie the game at 1-1. Westminster starter Ryan Gibbons would limit the damage, however, getting back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout to end the inning.
The Titans regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth, with a two-run homer from Ryan Jolin making the score 3-1, before Carter Chinn's two-run shot upped the Titan lead to four runs an inning later.
Saint Vincent got one run back in the top of the sixth.
Jordan Sabol led off with a single, before stealing second with two outs.
Zach Barberich then followed with an RBI single to center to plate Sabol to make it 5-2.
After Westminster scored once in the bottom of the sixth, they threatened to pull away in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases on a single and two walks. SVC reliever
Justin Wright would quell the storm, ending the inning on a swinging strikeout to keep the deficit at three runs.
The Bearcats weren't as fortunate in the bottom of the eighth, however, as Westminster scored two runs on three hits and an error to open up an 8-2 lead. Saint Vincent would then go down in the top of the ninth to see its season come to an end.
Casey Jones started on the mound for SVC and was saddled with the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in 5.0 innings.
Aaron Stephan allowed one unearned run in 1.2 innings, while Wright allowed two earned runs on three hits in 1.1 innings.
Ryan Jolin and Seth Schrader each had three hits for Westminster, while Ryan Gibbons started and earned the win, allowing two runs on two hits with five walks and seven Ks in 6.0 innings. Logan Exler threw three shutout innings for the save.
The Bearcats end the season with a 24-14 overall record, tied for the third-most wins in a single season in program history.
