TARENTUM, Pa - New Kensington baseball split a doubleheader with Grove City College at their home opener on Thursday.
The men fell 10-2 in the opening game of the day and later returned in an energetic 10 hit contest for the 8-1 win.
In game one, New Kensington got on the board early in the first inning with a single to center field that drove in the first run of the game. Grove City ran across four times in the second adding one more in the third and two in the fourth. New Kensington responded in the bottom of the fourth on a single that drove in their second run. Grove City contributed three more runs in the fifth to finish with the 10-2 win.
In game two, New Kensington maintained their early scoring and took control of the rest of the game with three runs in the second and five more in the sixth. The men finished on top in a tough game with an 8-1 victory.
Game 1
Freshman Ethan Brunson (Webberville, Mich. / Webberville) got the start for New Kensington going 3.1 innings and giving up seven runs on five hits. Brunson allowed one home run and walked five batters. AJ Collins (Penn Hills, Pa. / Penn Hills) took over for Brunson mid-game. The sophomore threw 1.2 innings and allowed three runs on three hits walking three batters and striking out one batter. Brunson faced 23 batters and Collins faced 13.
Senior Reise Matson (Kittanning, Pa. / Armstrong) singled to center field to drive in Jared Busche (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Gateway) for the first points of the game. Grove City managed to run across in the second, third, and fourth putting their lead at six. New Kensington did not score again until the top of the fourth when Eric Sonntag (Philadelphia, Pa. / Hatboro-Horsham) hit an RBI single to second base to bring in Braden Tristani (Sarver, Pa. / Knoch). Grove City pulled away in the top of the fifth with a triple to center field that would allow them to finish with the 10-2 win.
Game 2
Freshman pitcher Lucas Springer (Stow, Ohio / Stow-Munroe Falls) was the standout player of the day when he took the mound for New Kensington in their second game of the home opener. Springer threw 5.0 innings allowing only one run on two hits including a home run. He walked four batters and stuck out four batters. Mario Gomez (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. / Hasbrouck Heights) had a strong performance out of the pen throwing 2.0 innings scoreless while striking out two batters.
New Kensington rallied on a Gomez single to center field that drove in Tallon Auth (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Plum) while advancing Thomas Santiago Jr. (Jersey City, N.J. / M.E.T.S. Charter) to second. Matson continued his great season with a 2-RBI single to left field bringing in Gomez and Santiago Jr. while advancing Zack Woolheater (Munhall, Pa. / Steel Valley) to third. Busche also contributed an RBI single to left field in the bottom of the sixth that allowed Gomez to score again. New Kensington now leading 4-1. Sonntag singled to left field in yet another RBI that advanced Busche to second and brought Woolheater across the plate for New Kensington to extend their lead by four. Sonntag advanced to third on an error which drove in Busche. The final runs of the game came off of an Auth 2-RBI single to right field that brought in Max Oliveri (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Penn Hills) and Sonntag for New Kensington to finish with the 8-1 win.
"It is just our mindset," said freshman pitcher Ethan Brunson. "Keeping our heads up through the whole thing. Not letting them score a run get in our head . . . I feel like if we are stronger in the head and we don't let things get to us we could go places."
The men are now 3-6 on the season.
New Kensington will take on Geneva on the road in another doubleheader on Saturday with the first pitch at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Written by Matt Heavner, PSNK Athletics Communications Intern
