Box Score LATROBE, Pa. – Bryan Mitchell (Cleveland, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) hit his first career home run, a solo shot in the fifth inning, but it wasn't enough for the Thiel College baseball team, which lost a 4-3 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game to Saint Vincent College Saturday afternoon.
 
The Bearcats scored two runs in the bottom of the first and added a third run in the third to claim a 3-0 lead.
 
The Tomcats got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth when Mitchell crushed a pitch over the left field wall for his first career home run, trimming Thiel's deficit to 3-1.
 
Saint Vincent answered, scoring a run on a two-out single to center in the home half of the fifth to regain their three-run advantage.
 
Down to their final three outs in the top of the seventh, Dan Koller (Euclid, Ohio/Lake Catholic) led off the inning with a single to left field. Mitchell followed with a double down the right field line, and the Tomcats had the tying run at the plate with no outs. After the Bearcats induced a pair of groundouts, one of which scored Koller, Thiel was down to its final out with Cody Trinch (Franklin, Pa./Franklin) at the plate. Trinch didn't disappoint, singling to left to score Mitchell and draw the Tomcats to within one, 4-3. Unfortunately, Dustin Welsh retired the next Tomcat hitter to seal the 4-3 win for the Bearcats.
 
Mitchell went 2-for-3 on the day with a double, a home run, two runs scored and a RBI. A.J. Kavinsky led the Bearcats with a pair of base hits.
 
Matt Elko (Middlefield, Ohio/Berkshire) took the loss. He pitched six innings, allowing four runs, two of which were earned, on seven hits. He struck out six and walked two. Joey Fearer picked up the win. He threw six innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits while walking one.
 
The Tomcats (9-15, 3-10 PAC) return to Tomcat Park on Sunday, April 13 to finish off the three-game set with the Bearcats. First pitch of the single, nine-inning showdown is set for 1 p.m.