The Waynesburg University baseball team continued conference play as it took on the Grove City College Wolverines in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference double header.

The Yellow Jackets lost both games, 17-7 and 4-2 respectably.

In game one, senior pitcher Brandon Lawless (1-2) started on the mound for the Yellow Jackets and got the loss. Lawless pitched one inning and gave up four earned runs on five hits.

Freshman pitcher Lake Pry (5-0) got the win for the Wolverines, pitching five innings and allowing five runs on four hits.

Senior outfielder Tyler Godwin said the Yellow Jackets struggles were created by a slow start. “Grove City jumped on us pretty early,” he said. “They scored a lot of runs quickly, but we kept a little pace with them. They ended up pulling away.”

The Yellow Jackets trailed 2-0 after the first inning and gave up another three runs in the second.

Junior catcher John Przybylinski scored for the Yellow Jackets in the top of the third on a wild pitch from Pry.

The Yellow Jackets capitalized on another throwing error, as senior infielder Alec Fantaskey scored from a hit by senior infielder Tyler Reis.

The Wolverines bounced back, however, scoring five runs—two in the bottom of the third, three in the fourth and another in the sixth.

The Yellow Jackets scored three runs in their half of the fourth inning and one run in the sixth and seventh respectively.

Heading into the second game, Godwin and the team hoped they could bounce back but knew it was going to be tough going against senior John Bini.

“We knew we were going to see their best pitcher in that game,” he said. “We had an idea of what to expect but they jumped on us early again and we couldn’t get anything going on offense.”

Reis echoed Godwin’s sentiments about the lack of offense going into the second game.

“Our plan of attack was to have good at bats and to continue to stick,” Reis said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out the way we wanted it to.”

In the second game, sophomore pitcher Zach Straub (0-1) got the start and received the loss. Straub pitched two innings and gave up four earned runs on four hits.

Bini [2-2] pitched a complete nine inning game giving up two runs on seven hits and fanning seven.

The Yellow Jackets were down early again, giving up four runs in the first two innings.

Godwin had high praise for the relief pitchers that came into the second game.

“[Senior] Nate Gearhart pitched excellent in the five innings he threw not giving up any runs,” he said. “He has struggled before and it was good to see him bounce back and get more out of him, and also [senior] Colton Uzzell pitched well for us too.”

The Yellow Jackets tried to make a comeback, scoring one run in the third and one run in the eighth inning but were held scoreless in the ninth inning.

Waynesburg will continue PAC play as they travel to New Wilmington, Pennsylvania to go against Westminster.