Bison take split with Saint Vincent

Steve Janik, Assistant Sports Information Director

BETHANY W.Va. (April 8) - The Bethany College baseball team split a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader with Saint Vincent on Saturday, claiming game one 5-1 before dropping game two 7-3.

With the split, Bethany sits at 9-12-1 overall and 4-6 in the conference, while Saint Vincent has a 9-10 record overall and 5-3 in the PAC. 

Game 1: Bethany 5, Saint Vincent 1

Freshman starter Tyler Alworth (Brackenridge, Pa./Highlands) picked up his first career complete game in the victory, allowing just one run on three hits, while striking out two. Alworth retired the first twelve Bearcats to come to the plate before a single up the middle in the fourth inning cut his no-hit bid short. 

Offensively, Bethany was led by Zack Miller (West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin),who went 2-for-3 with two RBI, followed by Ryan Nickerson (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach) who also added a pair of hits in three at-bats. Paul Runkel (Steubenville, Ohio/Steubenville), Zach Schlotter (Twinsburg, Ohio/Gilmour Academy), and Alex Martin (Sound Beach, N.Y./Miller Place) all drove in runs for Bethany as well.

In the bottom of the second, the Bison had runners on the corners, Martin roped a double, allowing the runner at third to score and the other to advance from first to third. Miller was next up with just one out and grounded out to short allowing the second run to cross home and give the Bison the early 2-0 advantage.

The hosts added to their lead in the fourth. Nickerson got things started with a single through the middle. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, Schlotter followed with a single of his own, allowing Nickerson to score. Schlotter moved to third on a fly out to right before Miller kept the single trend going, driving in Schlotter to make the lead 4-0 after four complete.

SVC left two runners on in their fifth at-bat after the first two batters of the inning reached base, but Alworth pitched his way out keeping the Bearcats scoreless. 

John Lee (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) singled to center start off the fifth frame and eventually came around to score on a Runkel pinch-hit fielder's choice to give them their fifth run.

After the freshman cruised through the sixth inning, the visitors finally got on the board with a solo home run by Greg Martin, his PAC leading fifth round tripper.

Game 2: Saint Vincent 7, Bethany 3

Brandon Wagner (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) was the only Bison to register multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Bill McLuckie (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) gave 2.1 innings of relief, allowing just one run on four hits, while fanning two. 

After a scoreless first inning, the two teams traded a pair of runs in their second respective at-bats.

SVC had two runners on after a single and double, back-to-back. A single to right center allowed both runs to score and put the Bearcats up two early.

Bethany used small ball in their at-bat to knot it up. Neil Woods (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) started the inning with an infield single followed by a Jacob Miller (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) single into center. After a sac bunt moved both runners up, Kelaen Welch (Follansbee, W.Va./Brooke) then grounded out on a tough play up the middle but the runner at third scored. After a walk, Zack Miller continued his hot hitting streak with an RBI double, tying the game at two; however they could not push anymore across.

The Bearcats erupted for five runs the third inning, effectively chasing Bison starter Cody Gross (West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin) from the game for McLuckie. The score now sat at 7-2 in favor of Saint Vincent after three innings.

The Green and White were able to scratch another run across in the fifth inning after Wagner started off with a double to left center. Wagner then advanced to third on a dropped third strike after the strikeout was completed from the catcher to first. Two batters later, Wagner scored on a fielding error by the third baseman, setting the score at the final of 7-3.

Bethany concludes its series with Saint Vincent tomorrow, Sunday April 9 when they head to Latrobe, Pennsylvania for a single nine inning game at 2 p.m.