Bison Baseball Drops Senior Day Doubleheader to Washington & Jefferson
April 30 – BETHANY, W. Va. – On a day in which they honored six members of their senior class, the Bethany College baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader to Washington & Jefferson College. The Bison fell, 2-0, in game one, before dropping the second game by a 4-2 score.
The Green &White found themselves on the wrong end of a pitchers' duel in the first game as freshman Nick Gross (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) competed against Washington & Jefferson's Trevor Kerr.
Gross pitched well for the Green & White in the game, going the distance for his second-career complete-game. The freshman allowed just two runs on the day, surrendering just five hits while striking out five to tie a career high.
Unfortunately for Gross, the difference in the game came in the second inning as Matt Merlino homered off the Bison right-hander to give the visiting Presidents a 1-0 lead.
Washington & Jefferson would add another run in the top of the fourth inning on a four-bagger by Nick Vento, rounding out the scoring at 2-0.
Kerr outdueled Gross in the outing, posting a four-hit shutout against the Bison offense. The decision marked the 10the time this season that the Green & White have fallen by a margin of two runs or less.
Offensively in the first game, four different Bison tallied a hit, including singles from Neil Woods (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny), Zack Miller (West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin), Adam Becker (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) and Zach Schlotter (Twinsburg, Ohio/Gilmour Academy).
In the night cap of the doubleheader, Washington & Jefferson once again got on the board first, plating a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning on four, extra-base hits. They then added two more in the top of the fifth inning to push the advantage to 4-0.
Bethany would respond in their last at bats, getting to starting pitcher Riley Groves in the seventh. Senior Ryan Bisi (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) singled to get the Bison going, and was moved to second base on a walk by Scholtter. Following a passed ball that chased the W&J starter, freshman John Lee (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) roped a double that scored both runners to cut the advantage to 4-2.
With a runner on and just one out, the Bison were unable to get another run across the board as the Green & White fell by the 4-2 decision.
Offensively in game two, Bisi led the way with a pair of hits in what was his last doubleheader at home in his Bison career. Lee finished with a pair of RBIs, while Saige Micomonaco (Middletown, Ohio/Madison) and Ben Gavlik (Hong Kong) recorded the remaining hits for Bethany.
The Bison will be back in action on Sunday, May 1, as they travel to Washington, Pa. to conclude the three-game set with the Presidents. The matchup is currently slated for an 11:45 a.m. start time.
