LATROBE, Pa. (May 2) – The Saint Vincent College baseball team came back from an early deficit to defeat visiting Westminster 7-6 in 10 innings in a Presidents' Athletic Conference matchup at Bearcat Ballfield.
The Bearcats move to 23-11 overall and 19-5 in PAC play, while the Titans fall to 22-13 overall and 17-7 in conference play.
After SVC plated a pair of runs in the eighth inning to tie the game,
Kyle Belmont's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th secured the walk-off win, giving the Bearcats their third extra-inning win of the season.
Westminster put together a lengthy top of the first inning, scoring four runs on three hits in an error to jump out to an early 4-0 lead.
Saint Vincent cut the deficit in half with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. A single from
TJ Dailey started the frame, and after Belmont drew a walk,
Casey Jones laced a single to left-center to score both runners and make it 4-2.
The Titans answered right back in the top of the third, taking a 5-2 lead on a one-out home run from James Diamond.
The Westminster lead remained at three runs until the bottom of the sixth. With two outs,
Billy Perroz reached on an error, before
Jayke Saiani walked and Belmont singled, loading the bases. A passed ball then scored Perroz, before a grounder off the bat of pinch-hitter
Cameron Hyde was misplayed, allowing Saiani to cross the plate to make it a one-run game, 5-4.
Westminster used a walk, single and a pair of errors to plate their sixth run of the game in the top of the eighth, but SVC again came right back in the bottom half.
With one out, Saiani reached on an error and Belmont walked, before
Derek Hald laced a double to the left field corner to bring home Saiani, making it 6-5. After a long at-bat, Jones hit a grounder to third base, with Belmont taking off for home. The throw to the plate was off the mark, and the Bearcats tied the game.
The Titans put runners on first and second with no outs in the top of the ninth, but SVC reliever
Zach Barberich pitched out of trouble, getting a fly out and a strikeout before snaring a comebacker to the mound to keep the score deadlocked.
Tyler Chrise, SVC's third pitcher of the day, pitched around a one-out Westminster double in the top of the 10th to set up the 10th-inning Bearcat heroics.
Perroz opened the bottom of the 10th with a sharp single to right. With one out, he took second on a passed ball, before moving to third on a wild pitch. Belmont then lofted a fly ball to right field, allowing Perroz to scamper home with the game-winning run.
Perroz went 2-for-5 with two runs scored, while Belmont singled, walked twice, scored a run and drove in an RBI. Dailey, Jones, Hald and
Dimitri Gary also found the hit column in the victory.
Justin Wright started for SVC on the mound and after the long Westminster first inning, the senior allowed just one run and two hits over his next four frames. He finished with a line of 5.1 innings, six hits, five runs (four earned) and five strikeouts. Barberich threw 3.2 innings and allowed one unearned run on four hits with five strikeouts, while Chrise earned the relief victory after allowing the one hit in a scoreless 10th.
Logan Murgenovich led Westminster with a 4-for-6 performance at the plate. Logan Exler started for the Titans and took the no-decision, allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits with two K's. Timothy Lewis took the loss, throwing the final 1.2 innings and allowing one run on one hit.
The Bearcats will now take a brief sojourn over finals week before returning to action on Friday, May 6, when they welcome Grove City to Bearcat Ballfield for a 4 p.m. game.
