FORT PIERCE, Fla. (March 8) -- The Thiel College Baseball team dropped a close-knit 8-7 clash with Monmouth College Sunday afternoon from Bob Gladwin Stadium in Fort Pierce, Fla.
The Tomcats drop to 0-5 while the Fighting Scots jump to 1-7.
Trailing 8-4 in the eighth,
Aidan Ochs (Rostraver Township, Pa./Belle Vernon) roped a 2-run double to make it 8-6 while
Justin Dubee (Gibsonia, Pa./Hampton) added a sacrifice fly to get Thiel within 1 at 8-7. The Tomcats had the go-ahead run on in the eight and the winning run in scoring position in the ninth but were unable to produce any late-game magic.
The Thiel bats got working in the second as
Cole Sherwin (Karns City, Pa./Karns City) knocked a run-scoring single to make it 1-0. With the bases loaded in the third, Thiel plated two as
Joey Schimizzi (Willowick, Ohio/Willoughby South) and
Kolten Kruszewski (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) each had RBI groundouts to make it 3-0.
Sherwin finished 2-for-5 with a run and a RBI while Kruszewski reached base three times with a pair of hits and a walk to go with a run and RBI each. Ochs finished with a hit and two RBIs. Dubee had a walk and RBI each.
Colton Brightwell (Eighty Four, Pa./Bentworth) had a pair of hits along with a walk and a run scored.
Dennis Fedele (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory) got the start for Thiel and worked a 1-2-3 first inning with a pair of backwards K's. Fedele logged scoreless frames in the second and third before Monmouth tagged the southpaw with a 4-spot in the fourth to lead 4-3.
Fedele ultimately took the loss, falling to 0-2, as he recorded a career-most six strikeouts.
Mason Suss (Monongahela, Pa./Ringgold) worked a 1-2-3 fifth with two punchouts, but the Fighting Scots tacked on 4 more off of Suss in the sixth to lead 8-4.
Isaiah Torres (Berea, Ohio/Berea-Midpark) continued his solid start to the year with three innings of scoreless baseball along with two strikeouts.
The Tomcats are back in action tomorrow morning at 10 against Gettysburg.
