Justin Geiger's one-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning drove home the winning run as the Chestnut Hill College Baseball team split a doubleheader on Saturday at the Ramp Athletic Field in Philadelphia with a 4-3 win in the second game over West Virginia State University
The Griffins improve to 4-7 overall while the Bobcats drop to 4-6. Chestnut Hill also won the season series between the two clubs, taking three of the five games played.
Geiger drove in two of the Griffins' four runs in the nightcap while
Michael Pascoe and
Bobby Sabatino drove in one apiece. Six different Griffins tallied seven total hits with
Aiden Myers going 2-for-2 with two sacrifices.
Marlon Rose (1-0) earned the win in relief, entering the game with a 3-3 tie and the bobcats with the go-ahead run in scoring position. He faced just one batter, striking out Luke Burner to end the inning
. Dylan Broderick started, pitching 6.2 innings, allowing seven hits and striking out seven.
In the Griffins' final at-bat
Dan Ciotti was hit by a pitch to leadoff and
RJ Huth followed with a bunt single down the first base line where he avoided a tag and was safe, putting two runners on. Myers sacrificed both runners into scoring position and Pascoe was intentionally walked to load the bases for a potential inning-ending double play. Geiger had other ideas though. He took the first pitch from WVWU pitcher Hunter Eplin and drilled it over the head of the Bobcat shortstop for a single as Ciotti trotted home with the winning run.
The Bobcats' Devin Johnson had tied the game at 3-3 in the top half of the seventh with a two run home run. Thatcher Poteat's solo home run in the second accounted for WVWU's other un in the game.
Chestnut Hill got solo runs in the middle three innings to take a 3-1 lead. Geiger scored Huth with an infield groundout in the third to tie the score at 1-1; Sabatino's one-out single to left field scored
Christian Peluso in the fourth; and Pascoe had a single up the middle to score Huth.
In the opener, the Bobcats scored three times in the sixth inning, breaking a 1-1 tie en route to a 4-2 win over the Griffins.
Myers drove in both CHC runs while Sabatino had two hits and was also hit by a pitch.
Rich Bonino (0-3) took the loss, tossing 5.2 innings allowing all four runs (three earned) on six hits while striking out three.
A sacrifice fly and a single by WVWU's Jack Tilton produced the three Bobcat runs in the sixth.
In CHC's final at-bat, the Griffins loaded the bases with one out on a double from Sabatino and two walks. Myers followed with a single to right field to score Sabatino before the Bobcats turned a game-ending double play, getting Pascoe on an extremely close play at first base.
The baseball team returns to action on Wednesday, March 12, 2024 when they travel to face Kutztown University for a single game. First pitch is at 3:00 p.m.
