Jackets falter late in game one, leave swept by Penn State Behrend
After seemingly finding its way in the early stages of the first game of a doubleheader against Penn State Behrend yesterday, three unearned runs for the Lions in the sixth and two runners left on base in the Waynesburg seventh doomed Waynesburg to its eighth straight loss, falling 6-5 in game one.
The second game didn’t go much better as Waynesburg (1-10) dropped its ninth straight contest by a final of 11-0 to drop both games in the doubleheader in Erie, Pennsylvania.
“Unfortunately we didn’t get the job done,” said head coach Mike Humiston. “We had a hiccup inning and those seem to be plaguing our season thus far, where we allow our opponents to score runs and we make errors and then can’t respond offensively. We had our opportunities in the first game to put a good team away but didn’t get it done. We have to go back to our roots and finish what we start.”
Game one started off perhaps as planned for the Jackets, who fell behind 1-0 after three innings but quickly jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the fourth when junior outfielder Josh Hausler tripled in a pair of runs and then stole home when the Lion pitcher threw from the windup to the next hitter.
During the losing streak, Hausler has been one of the few bright spots at the plate for the better part of the skid, and Humiston has been impressed.
“He’s [Hausler] been one of the bright spots during the losing streak,” said Humiston. “He’s not where he needs to be fully yet but he’s working hard. Josh is leading by example and he has good at-bats and a good on-base percentage. He and Tyler Godwin have been hitting the ball very well.”
Penn State Behrend tied things up in the bottom of the fifth at 3-3 with a two-RBI double by sophomore David Boehme before Waynesburg took the lead back in the top of the sixth when sophomore outfielder Tyler Godwin doubled in Hausler to make it 4-3 before a single by senior first baseman Matt Bensinger made it 5-3.
That’s when the struggles began for senior pitcher Brian Resnik and the Waynesburg defense as three unearned runs, that started with an error by freshman infielder Tyler Reis, came across to give Behrend a 6-5 lead entering the seventh and final inning of game one.
Sophomore Brandon Smail came on to try and close things for Behrend and immediately recorded two outs before allowing a single to Reis and hitting Hausler with a pitch. The threat by the Jackets was ended after that though with a strikeout of senior catcher Tyler Rubasky.
Brian Resnik dropped to 0-2 on the season after surrendering three earned runs of six total runs on nine hits in the six innings he pitched. Resnik struck out four and walked two, and Humiston said, pitched well enough to win.
“Anytime Resnik is on the mound he gives us a chance to win,” said Humiston. “He pitched out of some jams and we are encouraging him to keep his head in and telling him ‘we’re going to find a way to score some runs,’ and we did until the last inning. We let it get away.”
The second game, from the words play ball, was not of the pretty variety for the Jackets, who eventually fell 11-0.
Sophomore pitcher Brandon Lawless gave up a run in the first, two in the second and four in the third before being lifted from the game by junior pitcher Parker Beatty. With the loss, Lawless dropped to 0-2 on the season after two innings pitched and change, giving up seven runs (four earned), on eight hits.
Beatty didn’t fare much better as he only was able to record one out while surrendering five hits and four runs (three earned) in relief.
“Lawless started off pretty well but then got the ball up,” said Humiston. “Parker got the ball up too and as pitchers when you leave the ball up in the zone you get hit, especially with the wind gusts near 25 miles per hour at points in the game. Hits will drop and be misplayed and it happened to both teams.”
Junior Derek Whalen tossed 3.2 scoreless innings in relief of Beatty, and Humiston said Whalen’s performance, in which he gave up five hits and struck out one, was one of the bright spots on the day.
“Derek came in and did what we asked him to do,” said Humiston. “That’s going to help us in the long run. The innings may seem minimal there in the game, but those innings will be important to us in conference play. Whalen did what he does out there.”
Godwin had two of Waynesburg’s six hits in the game and was the only player for the Jackets in the second game of the doubleheader to record multiple hits.
Humiston said he told his team to forget about the first eleven games.
“We have to wipe the slate clean and that’s easier said than done,” said Humiston. “We need to play better team baseball, hit better, pitch better and field better. We need to have a sense of urgency about doing our jobs. There is a lot we have to fix. We’re bent but not broken.”
Moving forward, it’s Presidents’ Athletic Conference action on tap as the team will travel to Crestview Hills, Kentucky to play Thomas More in a three-game set March 25-26.
“I’d like to think we can flip the switch and start playing better,” said Humiston. “I think we will, but baseball isn’t a ‘flip-the-switch’ game. We know we have to get better and we are going to change some things and we look forward to playing Thomas More. We can still be in the mix even with our record indicating otherwise.”
First pitch for Friday, March 25 in a single, nine-inning contest is scheduled for 4 p.m. against the Saints.