AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Westminster College baseball team split with Stockton University in the Titans' final games of their RussMatt Invitational contests Saturday afternoon.
Westminster finished the invitational with a 5-4 record.
In game one, Westminster was down, 1-0, going into the bottom of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Titan sophomore
Jaret Johnson (Niles, OH / Niles McKinley) tied the game after an RBI-double to left field, scoring classmate
Connor Cox (Ridge, MD / Leonardtown) who led off the inning with a single. In the bottom of the sixth inning, senior
Joseph Salmen (New Castle, PA / Union) led off with a double to left field, followed by a walk by senior
Brandon Rossier (Wexford, PA / North Allegheny), and a single by junior
Dante Parente (Beaver Falls, PA / Blackhawk) to load the bases with no outs. One batter later, Cox scored the eventual game-winning run with a sacrifice fly, bringing home Salmen. Salmen earned his first win of the season as he pitched a complete-game, giving up just four hits, one earned run, and striking out eight batters.
In game two, Stockton (1-1) got on the board first in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the fourth, Stockton's Rico Viani singled up the middle to bring in another run and extend Osprey's lead, to 2-0. Rossier drove in the first run of the game for the Titans in the top half of the sixth with a single up the middle, scoring sophomore
Vince Guerrieri (Latrobe, PA / Greater Latrobe), cutting into the Osprey lead, 2-1. In the bottom of the sixth, Stockton would score three runs and take a 5-1 lead. With one out in the top of the seventh, Titan sophomore
Jaret Johnson (Niles, OH / Niles McKinley) hit a two-run homerun to close the gap, 5-3 . The Titans had a chance to tie with runners at second and first with one out, but Stockton's pitching forced two fly outs to end the game. Titan junior
Cory Pullen (Wexford, PA / North Allegheny) (1-1) pitched five innings, giving up two runs on six hits, and striking out six batters.
Westminster is back in action Sunday, March 18 for a doubleheader at the University of Mount Union. The first game is set for 2 p.m.