Baseball drops last game in Florida
Following Thursday’s 13-12 loss to Muskingum, a game in which Waynesburg surrendered a 5-run lead in the last two frames, Waynesburg University head coach Mike Humiston was less than thrilled.
“We scored 12 runs and we still can’t win,” said Humiston. “I think our guys just need to take a look at themselves in the mirror and figure out what kind of baseball team that they want to be this year.”
Friday’s contest with Western New England wasn’t the response that Humiston was hoping for. After scoring two runs off a two-error frame for Western New England, Waynesburg was shutout and held hitless for the remainder of the game. Meanwhile, Western New England lit up the scoreboard, racking up nine runs in the bottom of the third.
The Golden Bears collected 15 hits on 30 plate appearances. Senior Doug Milne hit three of four and chalked up three runs for Western New England.
“I think what we need to do, as quickly as we can, is put Florida in our rear view mirror,” said Humiston.
Senior Matt Bensinger collected the lone hit for the Jackets and both he and sophomore Justin Smith scored the Jackets only runs.
The match concluded the Jacket’s Florida tour and it wasn’t all sunny in paradise. In the last six games, all of which have been losses, Waynesburg has been outscored 62-26.
“Some of the younger guys did a nice job swinging the stick and playing some good defense, but unfortunately if you only have one or two guys that are on the team that are doing anything productive, it’s difficult to win baseball games.”
Waynesburg hit .235 during the course of the Florida tour, with Cameron Bernhardt leading the way with a .417 batting average. Junior Josh Hasuler led the team with seven runs and nine hits and Bensinger led the team with nine runs batted in.
“We just need to regroup and kinda remember who we are,” said Humiston. “As I mentioned earlier, we were 2-9 last year and we did alright. Our guys, we’ve got a number of guys who have been there, done that and so with some senior leadership, upperclassmen leadership and the following of some of our younger guys, I still think we’re going to do well.
Waynesburg will look to break their six-game losing streak on March 16 when it travels to Erie to faceoff with Penn State Behrend.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | |
| Waynesburg | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| WNU | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | X | 13 | 15 |
Home runs: WNU Morgan 2-run homer in the 3rd. Loparco homered in the 5th.
WP: David Cherry, 6.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R
LP: Luke Carter, 2.0 IP, 4 H, 5 R