LATROBE, Pa. (April 5) – The Saint Vincent baseball team moved back to .500 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference after sweeping Franciscan University by scores of 12-8 and 5-1 in a mid-week doubleheader at a balmy Bearcat Ballfield.
In a back-and-forth opener, Saint Vincent (11-13, 4-4 PAC) broke open a tie ballgame with four runs in the bottom of the seventh, while in the nightcap, the SVC pitching tandem of
Nate Davis and
Jeremy Kreuzwieser held the Franciscan (4-15, 1-7 PAC) bats in check to seal the sweep.
GAME ONE – Saint Vincent 12, Franciscan 8
Devin Bonine went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, including the eventual game-winning, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning, while
Andrew Root earned the win out of the bullpen by closing the game out with 2 2/3 scoreless innings.
Franciscan jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second, using two hits and a wild pitch to take the early advantage, before the Bearcats got one back in the bottom of the frame.
Billy Perroz led off with a double to the fence in center, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on
Jordan Sabol's sacrifice fly to right.
Perroz started another rally in the bottom of the fourth by getting hit by a pitch and then moving to second on a wild pitch. Sabol followed by drawing a walk, before
Dalton Nicklow laid down a sacrifice bunt to move each runner ahead 90 feet. Bonine then came through with his first big hit of the afternoon, a single to right that plated Perroz and Sabol and gave SVC its first lead, 3-2. Zack Von Stein would then double to right to put runners at second and third, and
Alex Hess followed with a sac fly to right to plate Bonine with the Bearcats' fourth run of the inning.
Dylan Schmude then laced a two-strike offering to center field to bring home Von Stein and increase the Bearcat lead to 5-2.
The Barons answered with an unearned run in the top of the fifth, but the Bearcats answered right back with a big bottom half of the frame.
Connor Bannias led off with a single and would score two batters later on a base hit to left by Sabol. Nicklow would then launch a mammoth two-run home run to left center field to open up an 8-3 advantage.
Franciscan refused to go away, sending nine men to the plate in the top of the sixth and scoring five runs on five hits to promptly tie the game at 8-8.
In the top of the seventh, the Barons threatened to take the lead, loading the bases with three straight singles. With one out, a fly ball was corralled in medium right field by
L.J. Evans, and he would complete the inning-ending double play by gunning down the tagging runner at third to keep the game tied.
Riding the momentum of Evans' play, the Bearcats would put the game away in the bottom of the seventh. Perroz and Sabol walked to open the frame and were again sacrificed by Nicklow. Bonine then cracked a single to center field to plate both runners and give SVC a 10-8 lead. Two batters later, Hess doubled to the gap in right center to score Bonine, before scoring SVC's 12th run on a wild pitch with two outs.
Root would then pitch around a leadoff double to throw a scoreless top of the eighth, before retiring the side in the ninth inning to seal the comeback victory.
All nine SVC starters recorded at least one hit, with Sabol going 2-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored, joining Bonine with multi-hit games. Schmude reached base safely three times, with two walks to go with his RBI single.
Casey Jones started and worked into the sixth for SVC, allowing five earned runs on eight hits with two strikeouts, before Root, the Bearcats' third pitcher of the day, earned the win after coming on in the seventh.
GAME TWO – Saint Vincent 5, Franciscan 1
The Bearcats found the board first in game two, with Perroz leading off the bottom of the second with a home run over the scoreboard in left field.
Davis retired the next six Franciscan batters in order before the Bearcats added on in the bottom of the fourth. Sabol and Nicklow each drew two-out free passes, and would cross the plate on
Derek Hald's double to the fence in left to up the lead to 3-1.
The Barons countered with a single run with two outs in the fifth on two singles, a walk and a wild pitch, but Davis escaped more trouble by stranding a pair of runners after inducing an inning-ending comebacker.
Saint Vincent added on to the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Perroz led off by reaching on an error, before Sabol laid down a sacrifice bunt. The Barons attempted to get the lead runner at second base, but Perroz beat the throw, putting runners at first and second with no outs. Nicklow was then hit by a pitch, before Sabol scored on a Hald RBI groundout and Perroz crossed the plate on a grounder by Bonine to open up a 5-1 lead.
Kreuzwieser was then summoned out of the bullpen and kept the Barons in check, allowing just two hits and striking out two over the seventh, eighth, and ninth to earn the three-inning save.
Davis earned the win with a masterful six-inning performance, allowing one run on six hits three strikeouts.
Saint Vincent's six hits were collected by six different players – Schmude, Evans, Perroz, Sabol, Hald and
Kyle Belmont. Schmude, Sabol and Perroz each drew walks, while Perroz and Sabol scored two runs apiece and Hald finished with a game-high three RBIs.
Now winners of four straight, the Bearcats will have a week-long layoff over the Easter holiday before returning to action on Wednesday, April 5, with a 1 p.m. doubleheader against PAC foe Chatham at West Field in Munhall.
