LATROBE, Pa. -- The Grove City College baseball team pounded out 25 total runs and 34 hits Monday afternoon in sweeping a doubleheader at Presidents' Athletic Conference foe Saint Vincent. The Wolverines won the opener, 11-6, then rolled to a 14-2, five-inning win in Game Two. Only Game One counts in the conference standings.
In the opener, Grove City broke a 3-3 tie by scoring eight runs over the final three innings. Senior DH
Tanner Orner (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) put Grove City (7-5, 5-4 PAC) ahead to stay by belting a two-run double in the seventh. Orner's double scored senior second baseman
Bobby Abbott (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) and senior first baseman
Bubba Hamilton (Garner, N.C./Waynesboro, Pa.).
Orner then came home when sophomore third baseman
Noah Cyphert (Kittanning, Pa./Armstrong) singled to right field. In the eighth, Orner singled in Abbott to give the Wolverines a 7-3 lead.
Grove City then broke open the game in the ninth inning when sophomore catcher
C.J. Saylor (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) launched a grand slam. Sophomore right fielder
Anthony Tambellini (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour), sophomore pinch runner
Aaron Jenks (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) and junior center fielder
Matt Knauer (Allison Park, Pa./Eden Christian) scored ahead of Saylor.
Knauer knocked in Grove City's first two runs in the opener. He singled in Orner in the fourth to give Grove City a 1-0 lead. Saint Vincent took a 2-1 lead into the sixth inning but Knauer's squeeze bunt scored freshman shortstop
Lucca Baccari (Irwin, Pa./Penn Trafford). Knauer scored the go-ahead run on Tambellini's sacrifice fly.
Orner finished 3 for 6 while senior left fielder
Jesse Clary (Cranberry Township, Pa./Eden Christian) went 3 for 4. Abbott doubled while Baccari, Cyphert, Hamilton, Knauer and Tambellini all had two hits. Grove City finished the game with 18 hits. All nine men in the starting lineup had at least one hit.
Sophomore pitcher
Calvin Burns (Canton, Ohio/Canton Central Catholic) earned the win. He struck out six in six innings and did not walk a batter. Freshman
Nick Guidas (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine Richland) pitched two scoreless innings of relief. Sophomore
Austin Basham (Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington) pitched the ninth, allowing no earned runs.
A seven-run fourth inning and four more runs in the fifth inning put Grove City in command of Game Two. Hamilton doubled as part of a 3-for-4 outing while Saylor also went 3 for 4. Orner and Tambellini both doubled and singled while Abbott went 2 for 3. Baccari and Clary both scored twice. Freshman first baseman
Isaak Flaming (Dresden, Maine/Morse) tripled.
Hamilton singled in Clary in the first inning to give Grove City a quick 1-0 lead. Baccari scored on a Jenks single in the second inning. The lead grew to 3-0 in the third inning as Orner doubled home Abbott.Â
Tambellini sparked the seven-run fourth inning by driving in Clary and Baccari with a double. He then scored on a Saylor single. Saylor scored on an Abbott single. A wild pitch and error led to three more runs.Â
Hamilton lashed a two-run double in the fifth while Abbott and Orner followed with sacrifice flies.Â
Sophomore pitcher
Elijah White (Zelienople, Pa./Portersville Christian) started and earned the win after pitching four innings. White struck out three and allowed one earned run in his season debut. Senior
D.J. Newby (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) pitched a scoreless inning of relief.Â
Grove City will visit Thiel in conference play Thursday at 1 p.m. The teams will then play a doubleheader at Grove City two days laster.