BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (April 12) -- The Thiel College Baseball team split a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader at Geneva College Saturday.
Thiel used a 6-run ninth inning to erase a 17-12 deficit and secure a wild 18-17 game-one win while Geneva took the nightcap 7-3. The Tomcats now sit at 10-18 (6-6) while the Golden Tornadoes are 12-14 (3-11).
Game 1 -- Thiel 18, Geneva 17
Nick Jacobs (New Castle, Pa./Union) cranked a run-scoring double in the ninth to trim the deficit to 17-13. A walk to
Cole Sherwin (Karns City, Pa./Karns City) loaded the bases and led to
Ethan Bintrim (New Castle, Pa./Shenango) working another walk to force in a run and make it 17-14. A
Fletcher Hindman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) bunt hit followed by a bases-loaded walk to
Max Bihler (Delaware, Ohio/Olentangy Berlin) each brought in runs to make it 17-16. With two outs and the bases juiced,
Chase Morrison (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) stepped to the dish and delivered a 2-run single to give Thiel an 18-17 lead.
Alec Katon (Ashtabula, Ohio/Edgewood) came on for the ninth and escaped a first-and-third jam to secure his first career save and clinch the victory.
Jacobs finished 2-for-5 with a run and RBI while Sherwin drew two walks and had a run and RBI. Bintrim scored and walked twice while Hindman had two hits and scored twice. Morrison finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs, 3 runs and two walks.
Thiel erased a 2-0 deficit in the third as Nathen Pruntry cranked a 3-run homer to put Thiel ahead. The Tomcats added 1 more in the inning to lead 4-2. Geneva plated 9 in the fourth to jump ahead to a seemingly comfortable 11-4 lead.
Prunty finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and 2 runs.
Traling 14-6 in the seventh, Thiel plated 6 as
Colton Brightwell (Eighty Four, Pa./Bentworth) had a 2-run double and
Calvin Cackowski (Wickliffe, Ohio/Wickliffe) raked a 2-run bomb to get Thiel back in it. Geneva responded with 3 in the eighth to lead 17-12 going into the ninth.
Brightwell was 3-for-7 with 3 runs and two RBIs while Cackowski finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs and 2 runs.
Game 2 -- Thiel 3, Geneva 7
Geneva jumped to a 4-0 lead after one and grew the lead to 5-0 heading into the sixth as Thiel collected at least one hit in every inning but was unable to push home any runs. That changed in the sxith as a Prunty single followed by a Cackowski 2-run home run got Thiel on the board.
Prunty finished with a pair of hits to push his on-base streak to a career-best 22 games. Cackowski was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run.
Geneva added 2 in the bottom of the sixth, but Thiel got 1 back in the seventh on a Morrison single to make it 7-3. Morrison finished with a hit and a RBI in the defeat.
The Blue and Gold had bases runners in the eighth and ninth, but were unable to make any game-oneesque magic happen.
Bintrim got the start and took the loss after working 5.1 innings with four strikeouts.
Dillon Belknap (Lagrange, Ohio/Keystone) worked 2.2 innings of scoreless relief.
Looking Ahead
Baseball returns to action Tuesday for a 4 p.m. non-conference single-nine inning affair with Penn State Shenango at home
