Brescia Baseball Wins 2 in Series Split
The Bearcats traveled down to McKenzie, TN opening weekend to take on the Bethel Wildcats in a four game series. On Saturday the Bethel offense exploded in Game 1 and earned a 8-1 victory while Game 2 proved to be a very different game. The Bearcats took Bethel into extra innings before giving up a walk-off homerun giving Bethel the win 5-3. The Bearcats came out on Sunday ready to play in Game 3 coming away with the first win of the season 4-2. Game 4 was also a close game that came down to the wire, but this time, the Bearcats held on to the lead and came away with their second win on the day 6-5. Coach Jon Herbig had this to say about the first wins of the new season, "I'm really proud of the way the guys responded to a couple of tough losses on day one. Getting those two wins to split the series was a big confidence builder for our guys. It was a hard-fought series against a quality opponent and our guys showed some grit and persistence that paid off that second day. We'll need more of the same to keep building off what we did in this first weekend" The Bearcats (2-2) are headed into next week, scheduled to take on Crowley's Ridge (0-0) on Feb. 7 & 8. (Weather Permitting)
Game 1
Brescia got off to a slow start and fell behind early in the season opener. A couple of key defensive miscues hurt the Bearcats in the long run and they were unable to dig out of the early hole that was dug. Starting Pitcher Carlos Rivera went 3 IP giving up 7 runs on 7 hits, Hendershot came out of the bullpen throwing three innings, giving up 1 run on 3 hits.
Offensive:
McLaren: 2-4, 2 2B, 1 RBI
Benevolent: 1-3, 2B, BB
Game 2
Game 2 saw Brescia take the early lead in the top of the 3rd inning on a single by Alejandro Hernandez, scoring on the play was Kyle Taylor. Wyatt Griskey started the game on the mound for the Bearcats, surrendering just two runs, one earned, and one hit over 5 innings, striking out three. Bethel tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the 6th inning before hitting a walk-off 2 run homerun in the bottom of the 8th inning, giving them a 5-3 win.
Offensive:
Hernandez: 2-4, 1 RBI
Benevolent: 2-3, 1 RBI, BB
Taylor: 2-2, 2B, BB
Pitching:
Griskey: 5 IP, 1 H, 3K, 1 ER
Game 3
Bearcats got the offense going early on when John Benevolent doubled to drive in Clay Druin. In the second inning Clay Druin drove in a run and Matt Bennett hitting next, drove in Druin on a double to deep center. Later in the game John Benevolent hit a home run giving the Bearcats some much needed insurance. John "Mikey" Clements got the first win of the season for the Bearcats, giving up just two hits and one run over four innings pitched. Freshman, Eric Silvy came out of the bullpen and gave the Bearcats three strong innings surrendering just one hit and one run keeping the powerful Bethel offense quiet for the rest of the game.
Offense:
Clay Druin: 1-3, RBI, 2 R, HBP
Matt Bennet: 1-3 RBI, 2B, BB
Benevolent: 3-4, 2 RBI, 2B, HR
Pitching:
Clements: W, 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3K
Silvy: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1K
Game 4:
Brescia jumped ahead early on a wild pitch that scored Hernandez right before 2 RBI, 2B by Kyle Taylor in the second inning. In the third inning Chase McLaren gave the Bearcats a 4-0 lead on a single scoring Benevolent. The Wildcats would fight back however coming out in the bottom of the third and making the score 4-3. Later on in the 5th inning Griskey delivered a single scoring Hernandez making the score 5-3, but again Bethel would apply pressure making the score 5-4 after the bottom half of the inning. In the top of the 6th however the Bearcat bats kept applying pressure of their own as McLaren delivered a clutch RBI scoring Michel III to give the Bearcats the 6-4 lead. Clutch might be the word of the day for McLaren, who in the 6th inning was called upon to shut the game down on the mound after playing 1B the whole game. McLaren was handed the ball with bases loaded and one out getting a ground ball that the Wildcats scored one run on, after the hit, McLaren recorded a strikeout and a groundout the next two hitters to keep the lead at 6-5. Chase earned the first save of the year after going back out in the 7th inning recording a flyout, strikeout, strikeout (dropped 3rd strike), and another flyout to give the Bearcats the victory.
Offensive:
McLaren: 2-4, 2 RBI
Hernandez: 1-3, 2 R, 2B, HBP
Griskey: 3-4, R, RBI,
Liberato: 1-3, R, SB
Taylor: 1-2, 2 RBI, 2B, HBP
Pitching:
Milby: W, 4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 K
Porter: 0 H, 1 ER, 1 K
Corrigan: 0 H, 0 R
Mclaren: SV, 1.2 IP, 1 H, 3 K