LATROBE, Pa. (March 21) – In its 2024 home-opener at a sun-splashed yet chilly Bearcat Ballfield, the Saint Vincent baseball team was defeated 6-2 by non-conference foe Mount Aloysius.
The visiting Mounties (10-6) jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings, and the Bearcats (2-10) were unable to come back from the early deficit.
Dylan Schmude went 3-for-5 to lead the Saint Vincent offense, while
Billy Perroz went 2-for-4 with a double and scored a run.
L.J. Evans reached base safely three times with a double, walk, and hit-by-pitch, while
Dalton Nicklow had a pinch-hit double and
Jacob Auld and
Anthony D'Urso each singled.
Making his first collegiate start, rookie
Troy Gilpin was saddled with the loss, working 4.1 innings and allowing five runs on nine hits with one strikeout. Gilpin was relieved by
Andrew Stano, who had a strong showing out of the bullpen, allowing just one run on four hits with five strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.
The Mounties struck first with two two-out runs in the top of the first, using a hit-by-pitch, single, and triple to take the early lead. They would then send seven batters to the plate in the top of the second and scored two more runs on three hits.
The Bearcats found the scoreboard in the bottom of the second. With one out,
Austin Tirpak reached first on an error, and was driven in by Evans' two-out double to the fence in right-center to close the gap to 4-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, Perroz led off with a single through the right side, before Auld singled and Evans walked top load the bases with one out.
Derek Hald followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home Perroz and cut the deficit in half.
The Mounties got one run back in the top of the fifth, using a double, error and squeeze bunt to push the margin back to three at 5-2. With one out, Stano came on to the bullpen to record a ground out and popup, stranding two runners and keeping the deficit at three runs.
After the Mounties scored one more run in the top of the sixth, the Bearcats looked to be in business in the bottom half, when Perroz doubled off the fence in center and Evans was hit by a pitch. However, Mount Aloysius reliever Anthony Maseto escaped the jam by getting a foul out and a fly out.
In the seventh, Schmude dropped in a one-out single inside the right field line, but Maseto again pitched out of trouble with an inning-ending double play. Nicklow smacked a two-out double to left-center in the bottom of the eighth, but the inning would end when Mountie right fielder Brandon Cook made a spectacular diving catch on the right field line.
Mount Aloysius looked primed to add onto the lead in the top of the ninth, loading the bases with no outs on a walk and two infield singles. Stano recorded the first out on a grounder to
Vincent Amatucci at third, who cut down the lead runner at home. The second out was recorded in similar fashion, this time with the shortstop
Alex Hess throwing out the lead runner at the plate, before Stano stranded the bases loaded with an inning-ending strikeout.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, D'Urso smacked a pinch-hit single to center field, but Maseto would close the game out by getting a ground ball fielder's choice to seal the victory.
Maseto earned the win in relief of starter John Luke Bailey, throwing 5.0 shutout innings and allowing just four hits with two strikeouts.
Joshua Brown went 3-4 with a double, triple, and two RBIs to lead the Mounties, while teammate John Griffith went 3-5 with one RBI.
The Bearcats will now have a quick turnaround, as they return to action on Friday, March 22, opening Presidents' Athletic Conference play with a 1 p.m. doubleheader against Waynesburg University at Bearcat Ballfield.
