FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Thiel College baseball team improved to 2-0 on the season Monday after defeating the Otterbein Cardinals 9-8 during play in the Gene Cusic Classic.
 
Trailing 8-6 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, Thiel plated three runs to earn the comeback victory.
 
Nash Matson (Kittanning, Pa./Armstrong) got the Tomcats started in the ninth with a leadoff walk. Jamin Wentling (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) followed with a single to center field, setting the stage for Anthony Sebastian (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk), who drilled a 2-RBI triple into right center field to tie up the game, 8-8. Sebastian went on to score the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly by Dylan Gurski (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) to center field.
 
Myles Metz (Chardon, Ohio/Chardon), who threw 1 1/3 innings, earned the win. Richard Crooks (Milan, Ohio/Edison), who tossed 4 1/3 innings, allowed three runs on five hits with five strikeouts.
 
Otterbein took a 2-0 lead in the second, but the Tomcats responded with four runs in the third. Matson and Wentling hit run-scoring doubles in the fourth while Sebastian drove in a run on a single to center field.
 
Otterbein scored three runs in the top of the eighth to take a 7-4 lead. Thiel came back with two runs in the bottom of the frame on a 2-RBI single by Andrew Giesey (Penn, Pa./Penn Trafford).
 
Sebastian went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored. Giesey went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Wentling and Anthony Rago (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) also recorded two hit apiece.
 
The Tomcats and Cardinals will play a rematch Tuesday. The first pitch is scheduled for noon.