Baseball plays to a split at Grove City

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

GROVE CITY, Pa. (April 21) - The Bethany College baseball team rallied for a two-game split at Grove City Saturday afternoon. The Wolverines claimed game one 13-8, before the Bison answered with a 6-3 win in game two of a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) twinbill.

THE MATCHUP

• Game 1 Final: Grove City 13, Bethany 8 (Box Score)
• Game 2 Final: Bethany 6, Grove City 3 (Box Score)
• Records: Bethany 8-17, 5-7 PAC | Grove City 12-14, 6-6 PAC
• Location: R.J. Behringer Field | Grove City, Pennsylvania

GAME 1: Grove City 13, Bethany 8

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Bethany, a day removed from scoring 22 runs against Geneva, did not skip a beat early in game one. The Bison scored seven runs and sent 10 batters to the dish in the first inning to take the lead.
• Sophomore Kevin Marthinsen (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) drove in two runs and scored on a RBI-double by junior Neil Woods (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny). Senior Ryan Nickerson (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach) drove in Woods to make the score 4-0, before RBIs were collected by seniors Matt Cavanaugh (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) and Kelaen Welch (Follansbee, W.Va./Brooke).
• The Bison pushed their lead to 7-0 in the second inning with a sacrifice fly by Woods, but Grove City would rally back.
• The Wolverines sent 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the second inning and scored seven runs on six hits to tie the game at 7-7. Bethany was charged with three errors in the frame.
• After the Bison went down in order in the third inning, Grove City took its first lead of the day with two runs on four hits to claim a 9-7 advantage. The Wolverines would add two more in the fourth and fifth innings to build up a 13-7 lead.
• Bethany manufactured a run in the sixth inning when junior Jake Stemmerich (Greensburg, Pa./Greater Latrobe) lifted a fly ball into center that scored freshman Kyle Goodwin (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg) to make the score 13-8.
• Bethany was limited to a ninth inning single over the final three frames and was dealt the loss.

GAME NOTES

• The Bison were led by Marthinsen and Welch, who each had two hits in the loss. Welch also added a stolen base to his final line.
• Woods finished the game with two RBI.
• Junior Tyler Frazee (Markleysburg, Pa./Uniontown) was saddled with the loss after allowing nine runs (three earned) on 10 hits with three strikeouts over two-plus innings of work to fall to 1-3 this season.

GAME 2: Bethany 6, Grove City 3

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Bison had another first inning scoring out-burst in game two to give freshman starting pitcher Luke Gapinski (McKees Rocks, Pa./OLSH) some early run support.
• The first three batters all reached, before Frazee and Woods each delivered RBI hits to give Bethany the lead. Nickerson extended the lead to 4-0 with a sacrifice fly before the frame was finally over.
• Bethany added runs in second and fourth innings; both times off of the bat of Marthinsen. The Pittsburgh native singled in runs in both innings to push the Bison lead to 6-0 entering the bottom of the fourth.
• Gapinski, who scatterd three hits over the first six innings, yielded his first run of the game in the seventh, but stranded two runners on to keep the score 6-1.
• Woods came on in the ninth inning and was tagged for two runs to make the score 6-3, but he managed to work around a leadoff error to help secure the win and series split for the Bison.

GAME NOTES

• Gapinski (1-2) had his best performance of the season. He held the Wolverines to one run on four hits with four strikeouts over eight innings of work.
• Welch and Marthinsen each had two hits in the win, with Welch scoring three times and adding his second stolen base of the day.
• Bethany turned four double plays in the game.

UP NEXT:

• The Bison return home to the friendly confines of Bethany Park on Monday, April 23 for a non-conference doubleheader versus Muskingum at 2 p.m.