Baseball Prepares for Important Conference Series Against St. Vincent
After splitting a road doubleheader this past Tuesday, April 18, with the Bethany Bison, the Waynesburg University baseball team is gearing up for the final 10 games of the regular season, starting with a three-game series against the St. Vincent Bearcats.
The series starts Friday, April 21, when St. Vincent travels to Waynesburg for a single game before Waynesburg goes to Latrobe, Pennsylvania, for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 22. The Bearcats currently hold the fourth and final seed for the playoffs, but much can change before the season ends.
In the team’s most recent two games against Bethany, the Yellow Jackets continued a running trend as head coach Mike Humiston sees with his team – a lack of offensive support for senior pitcher Luke Carter.
“We’ve got to find a way to support Luke,” said Humiston. “We know that he’s one of the best pitchers in the league – you look at his record and you think ‘eh, he’s below average,’ – I disagree with that.”
Carter is 1-5 on the year, despite carrying a respectable 3.69 ERA and ranking in the top 10 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in opponent batting average, strikeouts and complete games. In game one this past Tuesday against Bethany, Carter went five innings, allowing only two runs on four hits while striking out four.
Outstandingly, Carter is averaging fewer than three runs of support from his offense in games that he starts this season.
“I think everybody’s sick because they don’t give him any run support,” said Humiston. “He busts his hump every time he takes the mound and he’s our guy. He has a lot of Brian Resnik’s characteristics in him.”
Despite a trend of poor offensive firepower on games that Carter starts, the Waynesburg University Yellow Jackets still tout a potentially star-studded lineup most games.
First basemen Jonathan Kletzli ranks near the top of the PAC in batting average, slugging percentage and home runs; Tyler Godwin is above and beyond the walks leader in the conference with 23 bases on balls during the 2017 season; and Ben Miller provides a deep power threat from anywhere in the lineup.
However, the biggest member of the lineup is sophomore Tyler Reis, who currently leads the PAC in home runs with nine and hits with 43, while also leading the team in runs scored, batting average and on-base percentage.
With the season quickly winding to a close, Grove City, Westminster, Bethany and Waynesburg are all in on the hunt to take away the final playoff spot away from St. Vincent.
Humiston is hopeful in his team’s chances to make the tournament.
“We have to win two out of three in each series and throw in a sweep or two in there,” said Humiston. “We’re capable of doing that. We have some talented baseball players… we have to get on a roll offensively, score runs, and play good defense, and I think we can do that. I think St. Vincent is going to be a good challenge for us.”