Baseball: Stoneman walk-off allows Bison to split with Panthers

Drew VonScio, Student Assistant for Athletic Communications 

BETHANY, W.Va. – Bethany hosted Pitt-Bradford this afternoon in the first of two non-conference doubleheaders this weekend. The Panthers offense electrified game one while the Bison pitching slammed the door en route to Colton Stoneman delivering a single to walk it off in game two.

Pitt-Bradford tacked on the first two runs in the top of the first in game one before CJ Owens tripled to right, scoring Nick Roell. Owens later came around to score on a wild pitch. The fourth inning proved to be disastrous as the Panthers went on to post seven runs in the inning. The Bison responded with just one run when Luke Beatty doubled to left field and scored CJ Owens.

Mark Lavezza gave up eight runs (six earned) over 3.2 innings while striking out seven and suffering the loss. Zach Nolf gave up an earned run in 3.1 innings of relief of Lavezza for his first action of the 2023 season.

Bethany struck first in game two when Stoneman scored on a passed ball that ensued as Owens tried to advance around the bases. Pitt-Bradford tied the game in the top of the third inning, but the tie game did not last long. Just half an inning later, Luke Beatty tacked on an RBI through a sacrifice fly that brought home Roell.

The second half of the doubleheader stayed 2-1 in favor of the Bison for quite a while until the top of the fifth when the Panthers were able to tie things up and push it to 2-2. Once the second run was conceded, Trey Mantle's day was done for Bethany. Mantle threw 5.2 innings while striking out two and only walking one. The junior right-hander relied heavily on the defense behind him as they were able to get the job done. JT Hubert came in out of the bullpen throwing 1.1 scoreless innings to put the Green and White in position to be victorious.

Coach Thomas went to the bench to lead off the bottom of the seventh as he called upon Derek Black to pinch hit for Logan Bennett. Black reached on a fielding error before advancing to second as a result of a throwing error which was the dream start for the Bison. Tyler McKee grounded out to second base which advanced Black to third and brought Colton Stoneman to the plate with just one out. Roell grounded the pitch right back to the mound which forced Black to stay at second and now a base hit was needed to bring in the winning run. Stoneman was a man on a mission stepping into the right-handed batter's box, and the celebrations began as the ball dropped into right field for a walk-off single.

After splitting today's doubleheader, the Bison have a quick turnaround as they are back at Bethany Park tomorrow afternoon for two more against Pitt-Bradford. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. as Bethany goes for the series victory.