NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Westminster baseball team registered a series sweep of Waynesburg, following a 9-2 convincing win over the Yellow Jackets at home on Saturday.
"Anytime you get a sweep, that matters," said head coach Pat Riley. "Every win is a premium. We're in conference play, competing for a playoff spot. Anytime we have an opportunity to win, that's big for us. I think we did a lot of good things today. We checked a lot of boxes - had some good pitching, timely hitting, some situational stuff, play good defense [behind our pitchers]. Just have to build off it and another important week coming up."
Westminster (17-7, 12-3 PAC) fought to the last out throughout the game as eight of its nine runs came with two outs. Back-to-back RBI-singles in the second, courtesy of sophomore
Chase Tomko (Hermitage, PA / West Middlesex Area) and senior
Brandon Cooper (Oakdale, PA / West Allegheny), scored the first runs of the game and the Titans led 2-0. Waynesburg (7-19, 3-11 PAC) scored its lone runs in the third off a two-run RBI-triple by Mike Bell. Senior
James Diamond (Moon Twp., PA / Moon Area) answered in the bottom of the third with an RBI-double to put the Titans in front, 3-2, a lead they maintained for the rest of the contest. Tomko closed out the scoring in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run RBI-double, his game- and career-high third RBI of the day. The Titans totaled four doubles on the day. Sophomore
Carter Chinn (Grove City, PA / Grove City) also had a career-day, going 4-for-5 with two runs scored – the four hits marked a game- and career-high.
Sophomore pitcher
Logan Exler (Verona, PA / Serra Catholic) improved to 3-0 on the year, throwing six innings and only allowing two runs with three strike outs. Relief pitchers sophomore
Kolton Banfi (Harrisville, PA / Franklin Area) and junior
Hunter Stellato (Struthers, OH / Struthers) combined for three scoreless innings to complete the win and the series sweep.
"It feels great," said Exler. "Got another win under the belt [as we] continue conference play. Just keep pitching and staying in control."
The Titans are back on the diamond Tuesday, April 19 with a PAC doubleheader at Thiel. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
