FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Thiel College baseball team concluded play in the Gene Cusic Classic Sunday with a 5-4 loss to the Hiram Terriers.
 
The Tomcats built up a 3-0 lead midway through the fifth inning. After the first two innings were scoreless, Thiel plated the first run of the game in the third thanks to a Hiram error. In the fourth, Jamin Wentling (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) drove in a run on a fielder's choice. Christian Aldrich (Cranberry Township, Pa./Central Catholic) made it 3-0 in the fifth when he hit a sacrifice fly to center field, allowing Anthony Rago (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) to score.
 
The Terriers got all three runs back in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI-single by Curtis Caithaml and a 2-RBI single by Zach Bailey.
 
Dylan Gurski (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) brought in the go-ahead run for the Tomcats in the seventh on a single to right center field. The Tomcats maintained their 4-3 lead until the bottom of the ninth, when the Terriers plated two runs to earn the win.
 
Rago led the Tomcats at the dish with a pair of doubles. Anthony Sebastian (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) hit a pair of singles. Hiram's Caithaml went 4-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.
 
Thiel starter Will Brandsema (Orlando, Fla./Cypress Creek) allowed one run on six hits with three strikeouts through four innings. Reliever Justin Humphry earned the win for the Terriers. Humphry allowed one run on four hits with three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.
 
Thiel went 5-3 at the Gene Cusic Classic. The Tomcats are scheduled to play a doubleheader on the road against the Pitt Greensburg Bobcats on Saturday. The first game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.