Bison Baseball Falls Short in Pitchers' Duel with Waynesburg
April 12 – BETHANY, W. Va. – The Bethany College baseball team found themselves on the short end of a pitchers duel on Tuesday. The Green & White dropped a 1-0 decision to the Yellow Jackets of Waynesburg University, despite a solid pitching performance from junior Joe Giles (McKees Rocks, Pa./Sto-Rox).
Giles and his counterpart for Waynesburg, Brian Resnik, combined to allow just one earned run and 11 hits in a combined 17 innings. It was Resnik who got the better of the Bison junior as the Waynesburg senior ace pitched a complete-game, two hit shutout while striking out ten batters.
The matchup of aces was ultimately decided in the top of the fourth inning, when Giles made his lone mistake of the game, giving up a solo home run to Matt Bensinger, making the score 1-0 in favor of the visiting Yellow Jackets.
In Giles' next inning, the junior once again found himself in trouble, loading the bases with zero outs. However, some masterful pitching from the Bethany starter got himself out of the jam. Facing Bensinger for the second-consecutive inning and the bases loaded, Giles struck out the power-hitter on four pitches. He then set down Jon Kletzli on strikes before forcing Tyler Rubasky into a fielder's choice to retire the side.
Giles was met inning-for-inning by his Yellow Jacket counterpart as Resnik went the distance. Freshman catcher Alex Martin (Sound Beach, N.Y./Miller Place) broke up the no-hit bid in the fifth inning, while sophomore Ben Gavlik (Hong Kong/Hong Kong International) added a pinch hit in the ninth for the Bison's two hits on the day.
Giles pitched eight strong innings in the game, allowing nine hits and just one earned run while striking out seven. Senior Joe Hoffman (Allison Park, Pa./Deer Lakes) came in to relieve Giles in the ninth and worked a perfect frame on just 12 pitches.
The Bison will be back in action on Saturday, April 16 when they continue a nine-game home stand with a non-conference doubleheader against Fredonia State University. The matchup with the Blue Devils is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
