WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Thiel College baseball team fell in Game A of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Baseball Championship Tournament to the Washington & Jefferson Presidents, 6-5, Wednesday afternoon.
The PAC Baseball Championship Tournament is a double-elimination, six-team tournament for the first time, and is hosted at Ross Memorial Park on the campus of Washington & Jefferson.
Both teams had chances to score in the first three innings, but both pitchers were able to get out of jams.
Thiel opened the scoring in the fourth inning when
Chase Morrison (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) recorded an infield single to drive in a run, before
Cole Sherwin (Karns City, Pa./Karns City) hit a sacrifice fly to give the Tomcats a 2-0 lead.
W&J responded right away, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning.
The Presidents took the lead in the fifth inning off a double to left field.
The Tomcats tied things right back up when the Tomcats loaded the bases, and
Aidan Ochs (Rostraver Township, Pa./Belle Veron) singled up the middle to tie the game at 3-3.
The Presidents retook the lead 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh.
However, the Tomcats would not go away, and continued to claw their way back. Ochs again singled to left center field that drove in
Colton Brightwell (Eighty Four, Pa./Bentworth) to cut the W&J lead to 5-4.
The Tomcats entered the ninth inning needing a run.
Nick Jacobs (New Castle, Pa./Union) doubled down the left-field line to lead-off the inning, before
Nathen Prunty (Elyria, Ohio/Keystone) singled down the left-field line to bring in a run.
However, the Presidents would walk it off in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the game.
The Tomcats were led by
Aidan Ochs (Rostraver Township, Pa./Belle Veron) who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Nathen Prunty (Elyria, Ohio/Keystone) went 3-for-5 with an RBI, while
Nick Jacobs (New Castle, Pa./Union) also went 3-for-5. Morrison went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.
The Presidents were led by Drew Garth who went 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Jacob LaDuca went 2-for-4 with and RBI, while Scout Zaas went 2-for-4.
Alec Katon (Ashtabula, Ohio/Edgewood) started for the Tomcats, pitching eight innings, giving up eight hits and five earned runs. He struck out one.
Ethan Bintrim (New Castle, Pa./Shenango) pitched 1/3 of an inning, giving up the game-winning hit.
Anthony Pass started for W&J, going six innings, striking out six and allowing three runs. Ethan Boring got the win, going two innings.
The Tomcats will play the Westminster Titans in Game D of the PAC Baseball Championship Tournament on Thursday. The elimination game is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. The winner of Game D will move on and play on Friday.
