The Waynesburg men’s baseball team traveled to Penn State Altoona and dropped both games in the double header, losing 4-2 and 8-5 in games one and two respectively. 

Five of the game’s six runs were all scored in the third inning. The Yellow Jackets struck first in game one, as Seth Burgdolt had an RBI double to start the inning. However, Penn State Altoona scored four unanswered runs in the bottom of the frame. 

Waynesburg would chip away at the lead in the fifth inning when Alex Ashberry scored off an error on the throw to third base. 

“I think our team showed great resilience, but unfortunately it was too late,” Utility player Alec Engelmore said. “We just need to have those timely hits early and throughout instead of the last few innings.” 

That did not come to fruition however, as the Yellow Jackets gave up eight runs in six innings before scoring. 

“We need to clean up the fielding especially in these last few games with errors,” he said. “It is baseball, nobody is perfect but the errors are what are killing us, not the pitching.” Engelmore explained on what the team’s struggle has been as of late.

Waynesburg pitching gave up 12 hits and 12 runs, eight of which were earned runs. 

That loss puts Waynesburg at 10-10 overall on the season, however the team only had 14 total wins last season and hasn’t had a winning record since 2019. Englemore says that this progress has a lot to do with the chemistry and home crowd support. 

“We have all had the winning mentality but most importantly we want everyone to succeed,” Engelmore said. “This team has definitely been the closest team I’ve been a part of in my years here. I also believe the home crowd has something to do with it as well. A lot of students show up to our games and we notice that.” 

Utility player Aidan Williams, mentioned what the Yellow Jackets will have to do in their next matchup. 

“Right now the mindset is keep learning as we go,” Williams said. “The difficult competition we’ve faced outside of the pAC has prepared us for the high pressure of the PAC play that we will face soon.” 

The Yellow Jackets will step back onto the field when they travel to Pittsburgh, PA to face off against PAC opponent Chatham Cougars in a doubleheader with first pitch being at 2 p.m.