Thomas More rallies to claim PAC baseball title

Thomas More rallies to claim PAC baseball title

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CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. (pacathletics.org) – Top-seeded Thomas More College rallied from a 3-2 sixth inning deficit with a pair of runs in the eighth to top third-seeded Washington & Jefferson College 4-3 in the title game of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Baseball Championship Tournament Sunday at Thomas More Field.

The league championship is Thomas More’s fourth (2010-11, 2014). The Saints finished the championship with four wins, three of which came by just one run. Sunday was the fourth-straight meeting between W&J and Thomas More in the title round of the PAC Championship Tournament and second-straight season the championship was decided by an if-necessary game. Thomas More is also the first number one seed to win the league title since W&J in 2013.

With Sunday’s win, Thomas More earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. Team selections and regional assignments for the Division III Championship will be announced Monday, May 16 on ncaa.com.
 
May 15 • Game G
Crestview Hills, Ky. | Thomas More Field
(3) W&J at (1) Thomas More
Thomas More 4, W&J 3 Box score
After trading runs in the first, a third inning RBI groundout by sophomore first baseman Mark Merlino (Irwin, Pa. / Penn-Trafford) gave the Presidents a 2-1 lead.

Sophomore third baseman Bailey Abbatiello’s (Cincinnati, Ohio / LaSalle) two-out, RBI single in the fourth evened the score at 2-2 before junior catcher Derek Helbing (Pataskala, Ohio / Watkins Memorial) scored senior shortstop Michael Ruffing (Brunswick, Ohio / St. Ignatius) with a sacrifice fly in the sixth to push W&J back in front by one, 3-2.

In the bottom of the eighth, senior left fielder Zach Fardo (Alexandria, Ky. / Bishop Brossart) tied the game at 3-3 with a sacrifice fly that scored senior first baseman Donovan Pogue (Sharonville, Ohio / St. Xavier), who started the inning off with a single, before Abbatiello drove in the eventual game-winning run with a one-out RBI single. Abbatiello’s base hit scored freshman Chase Whitaker (Centerville, Ohio / Centerville), who was called on as a pinch runner for freshman catcher Sam Hauer (Cincinnati, Ohio / Elder) after reaching on a fielder’s choice earlier in the inning.

Freshman righty Adam Ruwe (Park Hills, Ky. / Covington Catholic) started and went 5.0 innings in the Saints’ title-clinching win, allowing two runs (2 earned) on nine hits with three strikeouts. The appearance marked Ruwe’s fourth of the tournament. Junior righty Ken Ruberg (Cincinnati, Ohio / LaSalle) allowed a pair of hits and struck out two over the final 2.0 innings to secure the win. Ruberg finished 2-0 with a save out of the bullpen during the Saints’ championship run.

Abbatiello went 2-for-4 with two RBIs while Pogue finished 2-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored. Freshman designed hitter Sean Lawrence (Independence, Ky. / Simon Kenton) went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.

Junior righty Riley Groves (Louisville, Ohio / Louisville) went 7.0 strong innings for W&J but suffered the loss, allowing four runs (3 earned) on seven hits with four strikeouts and a walk.

Junior designated hitter Frank Fortunato (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) went 4-for-4 with a double and a RBI while junior second baseman Adam LaRue (Imperial, Pa. / West Allegheny) and junior right fielder Nick Vento (Murrysville, Pa. / Franklin Regional) finished with three hits apiece.
 
May 14 • Game F
Crestview Hills, Ky. | Thomas More Field
(3) W&J at (1) Thomas More
Thomas More 8, W&J 7 Box score
Thomas More freshman lefty Ethan Kramer (Sunman, Ind. / East Central) claimed Saturday's elimination game win for the Saints, working 5.2 innings and allowing  four runs (4 earned) on three hits with eight walks and four strikeouts. The win was Kramer’s second of the season and first since allowing one run on three hits in 6.0 innings against Wilmington College on April 4.

With Thomas More holding an 8-1 lead, W&J posted three runs in the bottom of the sixth to trim the lead to four, 8-4. A three-run home run by senior shortstop Michael Ruffing (Brunswick, Ohio / St. Ignatius) in the bottom of the eighth brought the Presidents back to within one, 8-7.

Sophomore second baseman Ben Laumann (Cincinnati, Ohio / Oak Hills) finished 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. Freshman catcher Sam Hauer (Cincinnati, Ohio / Elder) went 3-for-5 with a double and a run and junior center fielder Casey Metzer (Cincinnati, Ohio / Oak Hills) finished 2-for-5 with two doubles and a pair of runs scored.

Ruffing finished 2-for-5 with a home run, four RBIs and a run scored for W&J. Sophomore designated hitter Dan Trettel (Wexford, Pa. / North Allegheny) and senior third baseman Nick Morton (New York, N.Y. / Packer Collegiate) each finished with two hits, including a double, and a RBI.
 
May 13 • Game E
Crestview Hills, Ky. | Thomas More Field
(2) Thiel at (1) Thomas More
Thomas More 16, Thiel 12 Box score
Sophomore second baseman Ben Laumann (Cincinnati, Ohio / Oak Hills) hammered a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning to send the top-seeded Saints to a 16-12 win over second-seeded Thiel in Friday’s second elimination game.

Laumann finished the game 2-for-6 with a double, a home run and a walk, six RBIs and three runs scored.  

Junior righty Ken Ruberg (Cincinnati, Ohio / LaSalle) earned the win for the Saints, working the game’s final 3.0 innings while allowing two runs (2 earned) on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

Thiel senior first baseman Trent Smith (Franklin, Pa. / Franklin) went 4-for-6 with a home run and a double, three RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Freshman shortstop Daniel Patrice (Munich, Germany / ESIT) went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, three RBIs and a run scored.

Junior righty Kevin Forrester (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) took the loss for Thiel, allowing seven runs (7 earned) on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk in 2.2 innings.

Thomas More jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after two innings, but a seven-run fourth inning, keyed by two-out, two-run home run by Smith, evened things up at 7-7.

Tied 12-12 in the bottom of the 10th, Laumann crushed a two-out grand slam to straightaway center field to give the homestanding Saints the 16-12 win.
 
May 13 • Game D
Crestview Hills, Ky. | Thomas More Field
(4) Grove City vs. (2) Thiel
Thiel 12, Grove City 7 Box score
Thiel opened with four runs in the first and closed with four more in the ninth to defeat Grove City 12-7 in Friday’s first elimination game.

With Thiel holding on to a 7-0 lead going into the bottom of the seventh, Grove City responded with a five-run frame, keyed by a two-out, two-run single by junior first baseman Matt Waugaman (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Allegheny), to close the margin to two, 7-5.

Thiel freshman right fielder Nick Fowkes (New Eagle, Pa. / Ringgold) smashed a two-out, RBI double down the right field line to give the Tomcats an 8-5 lead in the top of the seventh before senior third baseman Brian Genco (Strongsville, Ohio / Strongsville) keyed a four-run ninth with a two-run double in the ninth to extend the lead to seven, 12-5.

Waugaman drilled a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to close out the scoring.

Senior righty Jaden Nozicka (Portage, Mich. / Portage Central) picked up the elimination game win, allowing five runs (5 earned) on six hits with three strikeouts and four walks in 6.0 innings.

Junior center fielder Bryan Mitchell (Cleveland, Ohio / Padua Franciscan) went 3-for-5 with a double, three RBIs and a run. Senior second baseman Josh Doody (Grove City, Pa. / Grove City), senior catcher Dan Koller (Euclid, Ohio / Lake Catholic) and freshman shortstop Daniel Patrice (Munich, Germany / ESIT) each finished with three hits, two RBIs and a run scored.

Grove City junior righty Ben Finlan (State College, Pa. / State College) was saddled with the loss, allowing four runs (2 earned) on two hits with a walk. He did not retire one of the five batters he faced to open the game.

Waugaman went 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBIs and a run scored. Freshman left fielder Travis Auth (Medina, Ohio / Medina) finished 2-for-3 with a double, a RBI and a run scored.
 
May 13 • Game C
Crestview Hills, Ky. | Thomas More Field
(3) W&J at (1) Thomas More
W&J 11, Thomas More 2 Box score
W&J struck for four in the second, which included three-straight two-out RBI singles from junior catcher Derek Helbing (Pataskala, Ohio / Watkins Memorial), junior right fielder Nick Vento (Murrysville, Pa. / Franklin Regional) and junior left fielder Frank Fortunato (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan).

A two-out, two-run home run by Vento in the fourth pushed the Presidents’ lead to 7-0, and after a two-run home run by senior first baseman Donovan Pogue (Sharonville, Ohio / St. Xavier) in the top of the sixth trimmed the lead to five, 7-2, a two-out, two-run single by sophomore first baseman Mark Merlino (Irwin, Pa. / Penn-Trafford) in the bottom of the frame pushed W&J’s lead to seven, 9-2. Sophomore designated hitter Dan Trettel’s (Wexford, Pa. / North Allegheny) RBI single scored Merlino to swell the lead to eight, 10-2.

A two-out, RBI single by Fortunato in the seventh put the Presidents in front 11-2.

Vento finished 4-for-5 with a home run, a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Fortunato went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and run scored

Junior righty Trevor Kerr (Orrville, Ohio / Orrville) went 7.0 innings in the win, allowing two runs (2 earned) on nine hits with three strikeouts.

Thomas More freshman catcher Sam Hauer (Cincinnati, Ohio / Elder) went 2-for-4. Senior righty Brandon Humphrey (Cincinnati, Ohio / LaSalle) took the loss, allowing five runs (2 earned) on five hits with a pair of walks in 2.0 innings.
 
May 12 • Game B
Crestview Hills, Ky. | Thomas More Field
(3) W&J vs. (2) Thiel
W&J 4, Thiel 0 Box score
W&J junior righty Riley Groves (Louisville, Ohio / Louisville) was perfect through four innings and did not surrender a hit until Thiel senior first baseman Trent Smith (Franklin, Pa. / Franklin) looped a single to left to lead off the seventh in the Presidents’ 4-0 shutout of Thiel. Groves issues walks in the fifth and sixth before allowing the Smith single and an additional walk in the seventh. He did not strike out a batter in the complete-game victory. 

W&J bunched its four runs together in the fourth, keyed by a two-run home run by sophomore center fielder Ryan Sciullo (Vandergrift, Pa. / Kiski Area). Sciullo finished 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, two RBIs and a run scored.

Thiel senior lefty Matt Elko (Middlefield, Ohio / Berkshire) took the loss, allowing four runs (3 earned) on six hits with seven strikeouts and three walks in 5.0 innings.
 
May 12 • Game A
Crestview Hills, Ky. | Thomas More Field
(4) Grove City at (1) Thomas More
Thomas More 7, Grove City 6 Box score
Grove City freshman righty John Bini (Staten Island, N.Y. / Xaverian) limited Thomas More to four runs (4 earned) on nine hits through 6.2 innings, but sophomore second baseman Ben Laumann (Cincinnati, Ohio / Oak Hills) greeted Bini’s replacement, junior righty Cameron Lawson (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Hills), by stroking a two-out, three-run home run in the seventh before connecting on a walk-off RBI single in the ninth to give the homestanding Saints the 7-6 win.

Senior righty Tim Baldrick (Cincinnati, Ohio / Elder) was credited with a no-decision, but after surrendering four runs in the first two innings to the Wolverines, his 7.0-inning, 12-hit, six-run (4 earned) effort kept the Saints in the ballgame. Freshman righty Adam Ruwe (Park Hills, Ky. / Covington Catholic) worked a hitless eighth and ninth innings to pick up the win.

Laumann finished 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBIs and a run scored. Sophomore third baseman Bailey Abbatiello (Cincinnati, Ohio / LaSalle) went 1-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs and a pair of runs scored, while senior leftfielder Zach Fardo (Alexandria, Ky. / Bishop Brossart) finished 3-for-4 with a run scored.

Grove City junior first baseman Matt Waugaman (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Allegheny) went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBIs and a run scored. Junior shortstop David Laylock (Mars, Pa. / Pine-Richland) finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.