LATROBE, Pa. (April 11) – Behind a dominant start by Jeremy Kreuzwieser and a balanced offensive attack, the Saint Vincent baseball team earned an 8-2 victory over Chatham in Presidents' Athletic Conference action at Bearcat Ballfield.
Nine different players recorded at least one hit for Saint Vincent (12-13, 5-4 PAC), while Kreuzwieser allowed just one Chatham (11-12, 4-5 PAC) run on three hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Playing as the visiting team, the Bearcats stranded a one-out L.J. Evans single in the top of the first, before the Cougars looked primed to take an early lead in the home half, loading the bases on a single and two walks. Kreuzwieser would then escape the trouble with a ground out to strand the bases loaded.
Saint Vincent found the scoreboard first in the top of the third. With one out, Alex Hess walked, before moving to second on a Dylan Schmude single to center. Evans then followed with a single to right field to plate Hess with the game's first run.
In their next at-bats, the Bearcats added insurance, scoring three runs on three hits and a pair of Chatham errors. Jordan Sabol and Dalton Nicklow opened the inning with back-to-back singles, before a one-base hit from Devin Bonine to center plated Sabol to give SVC a 2-0 lead. Two batters later, Matt Lockwich reached on an error that plated Nicklow, and Hess followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Bonine and increase the lead to 4-0.
Saint Vincent made it 5-0 in the top of the fifth, as Billy Perroz led off with a triple to the fence in right field and came home on a bases loaded walk to Lockwich.
While the SVC offense continued to add onto the lead, Kreuzweiser cruised on the mound. In the bottom of the third, the Cougars' leadoff batter reached on an error, but then the SVC defense came up with a pair of big plays. Hess made a diving stop in the hole to retire the lead runner at second for the first out, and after Kreuzwieser picked off the runner at first base, Evans made a diving catch in right-center to end the inning. The third inning was part of a stretch in which Kreuzweiser retired 13 of 15 batters to keep the shutout in tact heading into the bottom of the sixth.
The Cougars saw each of their first two batters reach base in the bottom of the sixth via a hit batsman and an infield single, but Kreuzwieser would again escape harm, getting a fly out to Evans in right, a popup to Schmude at second and a diving catch in the gap by the left fielder Bonine.
The Bearcats added a sixth run in the top of the seventh, when Sabol doubled to the left field corner, took second on a deep fly ball from Nicklow and scored on a wild pitch.
Chatham would break up the shutout bid in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with one out on a single and a pair of walks. Kreuzwieser would then give way to reliever Andrew Root, who promptly got a strikeout for the inning's second out. After a single through the left side scored one run, Root would get a groundball to end the inning and minimize the damage.
Saint Vincent closed out its scoring with a long top of the ninth, sending eight men to the plate. Perroz walked to lead off, before Came Hyde lined a single to center and gave way to pinch runner J'Shawn Taylor. After Bonine walked to load the bases, Hess and Schmude would each produce bases loaded, run-scoring singles to increase the lead to 8-1.
In their last at-bats, the Cougars scored one run on two hits in the ninth, before Root closed out the win with an infield popup and a groundout to Hess.
Evans and Sabol each went 2-for-4 to lead SVC's 11-hit attack, with Evans adding a walk and an RBI and Sabol scoring two runs. Schmude finished 2-for-6, while Perroz reached base safely three times, with a single, triple and walk.
Kreuzwieser earned the win to improve to 3-1 on the season, while Root threw the final 2 2/3 innings and allowed just one unearned run on three hits with three strikeouts.
Now winners of five straight, the Bearcats will now travel to Chatham to conclude their regular season series, facing the Cougars at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 12, under the lights at West Field in Munhall.
