NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (April 23) -- The Thiel College Baseball team split a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader with Westminster College Wednesday from the Westminster Baseball Field.
The Tomcats (13-20, 9-7) took the opener 2-1 as
Alec Katon (Ashtabula, Ohio/Edgewood) spun a complete-game masterpiece and posted a career-high-tying 10 strikeouts while the Titans (15-17, 10-8) took the nightcap 9-4.
Thiel remains in fourth place in the conference with the top six teams qualifying for the PAC Championship Tournament.
Game 1 -- Thiel 2, Westminster 1
The Tomcats got the only runs they needed in the third inning as
Chase Morrison (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) roped a double down the right-field line that just landed fair to score Ethan Bintrin and
Colton Brightwell (Eighty Four, Pa./Bentworth) to make it 2-0.
Morrison's two RBIs pushed his career total to 100. Brightwell finished with a hit while Bintrim had a 2-for-3 showing.
Westminster responded with a run in the bottom of the third to make it 2-1 and had runners at first and second with two outs, but Katon got a flyout to thwart the attack.
Katon worked a one-two-three fifth with a pair of K's. The Titans had runners at first and second with two outs in the sixth, but Katon, again, escaped unscathed and went on to retire the side in order in the seventh.
The TItans put the leadoff man on in the eighth before Katon retired the next five batters into the ninth. The home side smacked a two-out single in the ninth, but Katon got a fielders choice to seal the win.
The nine-inning complete game was Katon's second in his career and first since April 20 last season when he allowed just 1 unearned run in a 7-1 win versus Grove City. Katon struck out a career-high-tying 10 in the victory and allowed just six hits as he threw 131 pitches, also a career high. He improved to 3-3 on the year.
Game 2 -- Thiel 4, Westminster 9
Westminster pulled ahead 3-0 in the third before
Nick Jacobs (New Castle, Pa./Union) roped a run scoring double in the fourth to make it 3-1. Westminster tacked on 2 in the bottom of the fourth to make it 5-1.
Nathen Prunty (Elyria, Ohio/Keystone) logged a RBI double in the sixth and
Cole Sherwin (Karns City, Pa./Karns City) added a run-scoring single to make it 5-3.
Jacobs finished 1-for-3 with a RBI and a walk while Prunty extended his on-base streak to 27 games as he walked in the opener and went 1-for-4 with a run and RBI in the nightcap. Sherwin had a pair of hits and a RBI on the day.
Westminster added 2 each in the seventh and the eighth while the visitors pushed 1 across in the ninth to spell the 9-4 final.
Morrison had a pair of hits and 2 runs. Hindman had hits in each half of the DH to push his on-base streak to 27 games and his hitting streak to 14 games, both of which are career longs.
Nate Lucas (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) got the start and punched out two in 3.1 innings. He took the loss and fell to 2-6.
Brady Rzodkiewicz (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek) worked 1.2 innings of scoreless relief.
Looking Ahead
Baseball returns to action Saturday against PAC rival and second place Grove City at 1 p.m. from Tomcat Park.
