By Natalie Hanna · Staff Writer
The Grove City men’s baseball team swept a doubleheader against Allegheny on Saturday, bringing them to a 13-12 record. The Wolverines defeated the Gators 9-6 in the first game, followed by a hard-fought 13-11 victory in 11 innings in the nightcap.
According to senior second baseman Nick Sampson, the team was consistently focused throughout both games and conscious of what they needed to do to compete well against Allegheny.
Grove City accumulated 12 hits during the opener, each of the nine offensive starters contributing at least one. Entering the seventh inning of the game, they trailed 5-2, but put two runs on the board, narrowing the gap to 5-4. Freshman third baseman Nick Remish recorded an RBI double, bringing in junior right fielder Caleb Backos, and then scored on freshman DH Johnny Reyes’ RBI single.
After the Gators brought the score to 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh, the Wolverines rallied five runs in the eighth. To tie the score, senior first baseman Colin Marinpetro and sophomore left fielder Braeden Coyle walked with bases loaded. Shortly after, Backos was hit by a pitch, Remish walked and an infield single by junior catcher Adam Weber brought Coyle home.
After pitching seven innings, striking out five and allowing five earned runs, senior starting pitcher Kenny Lavrich earned the victory. Sophomore pitcher Corey Veverka relieved Lavrich and earned his first save after throwing two perfect innings, which included two strikeouts.
The team started off the second game with five runs in the first inning, matched only by one from Allegheny in the bottom of the inning. All five runs were unearned, the result of five walks and two errors. Going into the sixth inning down 5-2, Grove City tallied three more runs. Weber touched home plate on a wild pitch, and junior center fielder David Chandler brought in Backos and Coyle with a single.
Chandler once again singled in Backos and Coyle in the sevJunior pitcher Bryce Trischler pitched seven innings, striking out two men and allowing only two runs and six hits. Freshman pitcher Caz Ostrowski closed out the game and earned the win after striking out six players in 3 1/3 innings and allowing one run. Backos went three for six, recording four runs and three runs batted in.
After a split against Franciscan in a double header on Tuesday, the Wolverines will return to action at 1 p.m. in Washington, Pa. on Saturday to face Washington & Jefferson.
It will be a tough double-header, according to Sampson, but the team has “already proved we can win games that need to be won.”
