MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. –
Liam Bendo went 4-for-5 and
Jake Artz scored three runs as the Saint Joseph's baseball team finished its weekend in South Carolina with a 9-2 win over Western Carolina at TicketReturn.com Field on Sunday evening. The Hawks won two out of three on the trip.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Artz led off the game with a walk and eventually came around to score on a single by Bendo to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead right out of the gate.
• Saint Joseph's (3-4) would double its lead when Artz led off the third with a single and then stole second base before scoring on a base hit by
Nate Thomas.
• Western Carolina (5-2) halved the margin in the bottom of the fifth, but the Hawks put the game out of reach in the late innings. Bendo would lead off the sixth with a single before scoring on a double by
Tim Johnson; Johnson would then come around to score on a WCU error to make it 4-1.
• Thomas doubled in the seventh and came in on a single by
James McConnon to make it a four-run game.
• The Hawks would bat around and double the lead with a four-run eighth.
Luke Zimmerman would score on a bases-loaded wild pitch before
Andrew Cossetti hit a sacrifice fly to make it 7-1. Bendo followed immediately with an RBI single before another wild pitch brought home Thomas to give the Hawks a 9-1 advantage.
• The Catamounts would get their first two hitters aboard in the bottom of the inning and score a run on a double play to cut the margin to seven;
Mike Falco then worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to finish off the win for SJU.
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
•
Lucas Rollins scattered four hits, allowed one run, struck out four, and did not walk a batter across five innings to earn the win. Ryan Mitschele took the loss for WCU, allowing four runs on seven hits in five and two-thirds, to fall to 1-1.
• The win was Rollins' first since April 8, 2017, when he tossed six innings against George Mason at Smithson Field. He missed the previous two and a half seasons due to injury.
• Bendo finished the day with four hits, while both Artz and Thomas went 3-for-5. Artz scored three runs, Thomas scored twice, and Bendo drove in a pair.
• Every Hawk in the starting lineup reached base safely in what was a well-balanced offensive performance. SJU pounded out 15 hits on the day.
• Falco and
Noah Weber combined for four solid innings of relief, allowing a run on five hits, to help keep the Catamounts at bay.
HAWK TALK
"I was pleased with the way we competed today," head coach
Fritz Hamburg said. "Liam really had a nice weekend, as did Nate.
Jordan DiValerio picked up where he left off and really had a good ballgame against Coastal Carolina. That win is obviously a really big win; it speaks to the confidence that we are playing with. And even the game with West Virginia, who has a very solid club as well, we were right there. To their credit, they got a break on the play at the plate when James lost control of the ball and then the squeeze to score two was a good play from their end. I thought we did our best to defend it but to their credit, it worked really well. And I will point out their starting pitcher was really sharp. He commanded three pitches to both sides of the plate and when you can do that, it makes the challenge even that much more difficult.
Ryan Devine stayed right there and matched their guy pretty much the entire game. He really pitched well and kept us in striking distance all game. It was great to see him pitch it so well.
"I was really happy to see us break out with the bats today. We needed that. It was nice to get a lead and then extend it. We had some big two-out RBI that really gave us momentum. And obviously, we are all excited to see Lucas pitch well and get his first win in two years.
"To come out of the first two weekends where we are is definitely a step in the right direction. I'm happy for the players because we wanted to challenge them and they answered the bell this weekend. Now the challenge will be to keep that momentum going into next weekend when we head to NC Central."
UP NEXT
Saint Joseph's will play its first true series of the season this weekend, as the Hawks visit North Carolina Central for a three-game set beginning on Friday.
