GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College baseball team extended its win streak to nine games by sweeping a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader Monday afternoon from visiting Thiel. Grove City (25-7, 12-2 PAC) won the opener, 8-1, then rallied for a 13-10 victory in Game Two. Darkness halted the nightcap after 7 1/2 innings.
In Game One, Grove City jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three innings as junior first baseman
Markus Williams (Sewickley, Pa./Eden Christian) drove in four of the six runs.
Williams cracked a two-run single in the first inning that scored freshman center fielder
Nick Sampson (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) and sophomore third baseman
Mally Kilbane (Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Olmsted Falls). Senior catcher
C.J. Saylor (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) scored on a subsequent rundown, giving the Wolverines a 3-0 lead.
Sophomore shortstop
Luke Vittone (Seven Fields, Pa./Eden Christian) drove in sophomore DH
Shane Cato (New Castle, Pa./Shenango) with a groundout in the second inning. One inning later, Williams doubled in Saylor and sophomore right fielder
Josh Minnich (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) to give Grove City a 6-0 lead.
Kilbane's groundout in the sixth scored sophomore left fielder
Nico Rodriguez (Stafford, Va./Mountain View). Kilbane singled home Vittone in the eighth inning, closing the scoring.
Cato doubled for Grove City, which finished with 13 hits. Kilbane, Minnich, Vittone, Williams and junior second baseman
Lucca Baccari (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) all had two hits.
Sophomore pitcher
David Leslie (Butler, Pa./Butler) earned the win by pitching seven innings. Leslie (5-2) struck out seven and allowed one run. Senior
Robby Randolph (Cranberry Township, Pa./North Catholic) closed out the win with two perfect innings. He struck out three.
Kilbane went 5 for 5 with a triple and double in the nightcap to help pace Grove City's 17-hit attack. Cato, Saylor and Williams all doubled while going 2 for 4. Sophomore left fielder
Bryce Tagliatella (Middlebury, Conn./Pomperaug Regional) singled twice.
The Wolverines trailed 6-1 in the fifth inning but surged ahead with a six-run rally. Kilbane ignited the rally with a two-run triple, then scored on a Saylor single. Minnich cut the lead to 6-5 when he came home on a wild pitch. Cato singled in Saylor to tie the game while a subsequent error brought in Williams.
Thiel reclaimed a 9-7 lead in the top of the sixth but Grove City took the lead for good by scoring four times. Sampson scored on Minnich's groundout while Saylor tied the game by doubling in Kilbane. Williams doubled in Saylor to give Grove City a 10-9 lead.
Later in the inning, pinch hitter Leslie walked with the bases loaded, forcing in Williams. Saylor's sacrifice fly and Cato double in the seventh inning closed the scoring.
Senior relief pitcher
Noah Cyphert (Kittanning, Pa./Armstrong) earned his first career win by pitching three innings. He struck out two and allowed two earned runs.
Kilbane started and pitched one inning. He alllowed two runs. Sophomore
Isaiah Zuchowski (Barneveld, N.Y./Poland) followed with four innings of relief. He struck out three and yielded four runs.
Monday's wins put Grove City in a tie for first place in the conference with Washington & Jefferson. Grove City returns to action Wednesday at Waynesburg. The conference doubleheader starts at 1 p.m.
