Brendan Burke
3
Franciscan FUS 16-18
9
Winner Grove City GRO 28-8
Franciscan FUS
16-18
3
Final
9
Grove City GRO
28-8
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Franciscan FUS 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 9 2
Grove City GRO 0 0 0 1 0 2 4 2 X 9 12 0

W: Nick Guidas (5-2) L: Neely, Ryan (2-4)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Mitch Morelli

Baseball Falls in Tournament Opener

Grove City 9, Franciscan 3 - 9 Innings
 
Franciscan Lineup
Patrick Wallace 2B, Brendan Burke C, Chris Furka SS, Joshua Costello 1B, Kyle Ferrance RF, Declan Peterson 3B, Joshua Speaker DH, James Becker CF, Daniel Halsey LF & Jacob Whitmore P

Grove City Lineup
Clary LF, Tambellini RF, Saylor 3B, Hamilton 1B, Abbott 2B, Orner C, Flaming DH, Baccari SS, Hoffman CF & Burns P
 
How It Happened
The Franciscan baseball team would fall in their PAC Baseball Tournament debut to Grove City on Thursday afternoon. The Barons would jump out to an early 3-0 lead, but the Wolverines would score nine unanswered to win. The Barons now enter the losers bracket and are one loss from elimination.

After a Brendan Burke walk and Chris Furka single, Kyle Ferrance would step to the plate with two outs. He would deliver a two RBI single to right field that would give the Barons a 2-0 lead. In the third, Burke would get it started again, as he led off with a double. Joshua Costello would knock him in with a RBI single to center and give Franciscan a 3-0 lead. 

Three straight hits would give the Wolverines their first run of the night in the fourth inning. Starter Jacob Whitmore would pitch into the sixth inning, but he would allow a leadoff double that would trigger Coach Carver to go to the bullpen. That runner would come around to score, as the book would be closed on Whitmore with two earned runs. Ryan Neely came in as a relief pitcher, for the first time this year, and allowed a pair of runs in the sixth, to tie this one up at 3-3. 

The Wolverines would continue to do damage in the seventh, as they plated four runs and expanded the lead to 7-3. Brody Hynes would come in to pitch the eighth inning, as he allowed a pair of runs as well to bring the score to 9-3. Franciscan would not be able to score from the third inning on to the ninth, as they would fall 9-3.

At the Plate
- Joshua Costello and Declan Peterson each had multi-hit games.
- Kyle Ferrance had a team high two RBIs.
- Patrick Wallace went hitless for the second time all season.
- The Barons drew four walks and struck out four times.
- Daniel Halsey stole one base, and James Becker was caught stealing

On the Mound
- Starter Jacob Whitmore pitched five strong innings, while allowing two earned runs.
- Ryan Neely was able to give two innings, allowing five runs, four of which were earned.
- Brody Hynes cleaned up the eight inning, allowing two runs with only one being an earned run. 

Up Next
Franciscan with the loss is scheduled to play Saint Vincent in an elimination game tomorrow afternoon at 3 pm. The Bearcats earned the 4th seed in the tournament by beating Bethany on Tuesday. They would come out on the wrong side of their first tournament game against Washington & Jefferson. The Barons went 2-1 this season against the Bearcats in three PAC conference matchups. The first win came in walk-off fashion, as Kyle Ferrance singled in Noah Smith to win 4-3. Noah Smith pitched eight strong innings in the second win at Saint Vincent, and the bats would score him six runs in route to a 6-2 win. Loser of this game will have their season come to an end, while the winner will play another elimination game after the conclusion of this game. 

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