Bison clipped twice in road doubleheader at Grove CIty

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

GROVE CITY, Pa. (March 29) - The Bison were knocked off twice at Grove City in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader Wednesday. The Wolverines took game one 3-2 (8 Innings) and completed the sweep with a 4-2 win in game two.

The losses drop the Bison to 5-9-1 overall, 0-4 in the PAC. Meanwhile, Grove City improves to 5-0 in league play, 8-7 overall this season.

GAME 1: Grove City 3, Bethany 2

The Bison rallied to tie the game in the seventh inning, but a walk-off home run by the Wolverines sent Bethany to a 3-2 game one loss.

The Green & White were down to their final three outs when sophomore John Lee (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) singled to start the top of the seventh inning and a fielder's choice by senior Zack Miller (West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin) put a runner on first base with one out. Junior Kelaen Welch (Follansbee, W.Va./Brooke) then beat out an infield single and Miller advanced from first to third with the help of an errant throw on the play.

The next batter, sophomore Brandon Wagner (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills), hit a fly ball deep enough to left field to allow Miller to tag from third and tie the game up.

After the Bison stranded a runner at second in the top of the eighth inning, Grove City's Andy Fritz led the inning off with a walk-off home run to give the Wolverines the win.

Senior pitcher Bill McLuckie (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) was effective in six innings of work. He limited the Wolverines to two runs on six hits with three strikeouts to earn a no-decision.

Wagner, Lee and Welch each finished with a pair of hits to lead the Bison at the plate, while Welch collected the team's only extra-base hit with a third inning double.

GAME 2: Grove City 4, Bethany 2

A pair of sixth inning runs were the difference in Bethany's 4-2 loss to Grove City in game two.

After a trio of scoreless frames, the Bison broke through with a pair of runs on RBI-singles from Welch and sophomore Alex Martin (Sound Beach, N.Y./Miller Place) to take a 2-0 lead.

Grove City answered back with two runs to tie the game and held the Bison off of the board. The Wolverines took advantage of a Bethany miscue in the sixth to score two runs and take a 4-2 lead in the contest.

The Bison were retired in order in the final frame to close out the afternoon.

Sophomore Nick Gross (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) was saddled with the loss. Gross (0-2) only yielded four runs (two earned) on seven hits with one strike out.

The Bison baseball team is back on the diamond on Friday, March 31 when they open a three-game series at Westminster with a single-game at 4 p.m. The two teams will close the series with a doubleheader at Bethany Park on Saturday, April 1 at 1 p.m.