GREENVILLE, Pa. (March 23) -- The Thiel College Baseball team split a non-conference doubleheader with Pitt Bradford Sunday in the teams home opener from Tomcat Park.
The Tomcats (4-11) took the opener 4-3 on a
Nick Jacobs (New Castle, Pa./Union) walk-off single while the Panthers (10-6) took the nightcap 7-2.
Game 1 -- Thiel 4, Pitt Bradford 3
Singles from
Fletcher Hindman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) and
Colton Brightwell (Eighty Four, Pa./Bentworth) along with a walk to
Nathen Prunty (Elyria, Ohio/Keystone) loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh and the game tied at 3. Jacobs stepped to the dish and delivered a walk-off single up the middle to give Thiel the 4-3 victory.
Hindman had a hit and a run while Brightwell was 2-for-4 with a run. Jacobs' lone hit in the win was the most important one.
Thiel struck in the first inning as
Chase Morrison (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) and Brightwell each singled to set the stage for Prunty as he clobbered a 3-run jack to left for his second homer in as many days to put Thiel up 3-0.
Prunty was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, three RBIs and a run. Morrison finished with a hit and a run.
Nate Lucas (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) got the nod for Thiel and worked two no-hit innings with a pair of strikeouts.
Ethan Bintrim (New Castle, Pa./Shenango) logged a 1-2-3 third in relief.
The Panthers put 3 on the board in the fourth to even the game before
Archie Teconchuk (Warren, Pa./Warren) came on and twirled three innings of one-hit relief to collect the victory and move to 1-1 on the season.
Tomcat pitchers totaled just one walk in the victory and held Pitt Bradford to five hits.
Game 2 -- Thiel 2, Pitt Bradford 7
Thiel carried the momentum into game two as Hindman, Morrison and Brightwell all reached to load the bases with nobody out for Prunty who delivered a 2-run single to make it 2-0.
Prunty finished 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a walk. Morrison and Hindman were both 1-for-3 with a run and a walk while Brightwell was 1-for-2 with a walk.
Hewitt Wilt (Geneva, Ohio/Geneva) got the start and worked two scoreless frames before walking the first two batters in the third, ending his afternoon. The Panthers went on to tally 4 runs in the inning to lead 4-2. Thiel put two runners on in the bottom of the inning but were unable to capitalize.
Wilt struck out two in two-plus innings and allowed just one hit but walked five.
Pitt Bradford added 3 more in the fourth to lead 7-2. One-out walks to Prunty and Jacobs gave the Tomcats life in the sixth but the inning was thwarted with a pair of K's as the Panthers went on to seal the victory an inning later.
The Tomcats drew five walks in the defeat but mustered only four hits.
Looking Ahead
Baseball opens PAC play Tuesday at reigning conference champions Washington & Jefferson College for a 1 p.m. doubleheader from Ross Memorial Park.
