Baseball: Waynesburg, W&J wins openers in PAC tournament
Waynesburg rallied from a four-run deficit to defeat Thiel, 7-4, in the opening game of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference baseball tournament in Crestview Hills, Ky.
The second-seeded Yellow Jackets (21-16-1) earned their fourth victory of the season over the No. 3 seededTomcats (28-13) and advance to face No. 4 seed Washington & Jefferson, a 6-5 winner over top-seeded Thomas More, Thursday, at 10 a.m.
Thiel scored two runs in the first inning, then tacked on two more in the third when Trent Smith hit a two-run homer to make it 4-0.
But Waynesburg starter Brian Resnik, a Burgettstown graduate, allowed just two more hits after that point, finishing with seven strikeouts.
Ben Shorthouse had a two-run single for the Yellow Jackets in the sixth inning to tie the score at 4-4, and Waynesburg grabbed the lead in the bottom of the seventh, scoring three runs, two of which came on a two-run single by Eric Crum.
• Gannon Rooney led off the game with a home run as Washington & Jefferson knocked off host Thomas More, 6-5.
The Presidents (26-14) had been swept by the top-seeded Saints (27-11) in the regular season.
Derek Helbing had a two-run double in a four-run third inning for W&J. Winning pitcher Riley Groves (9-1)allowed eight hits and five runs (three earned) in 6 1/3 innings. Bryce Schnatterly and Tim Mulvey combined for 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief with Mulvey getting a save.
Thomas More will play Thiel in an elimination game at 1 p.m.