Box Score - Game One
Box Score - Game Two
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A one-hit shutout win for freshman Jake Ciolfi (Cranston, R.I. / Cranston East) highlighted a doubleheader sweep for the University of Charleston baseball team over WVIAC Northern Division opponent Pitt-Johnstown, Wednesday afternoon.
A three-run second inning highlighted by a Tim Rein (Cross Lanes, W.Va. / Logan) two-RBI triple gave Charleston all the offense it would need in support of Ciolfi’s strong effort on the mound.
The Mountain Cats gathered their only mark against Ciolfi in the top of the third inning with a bloop single to leftfield. UC tacked on a single run in its half of the third inning to set the score at 4-0 on a John Schraer (Cincinnati, Ohio / Anderson) sacrifice fly to plate Nick Barnes (Strasburg, Va. / Strasburg)
Ciolfi grabbed his second career victory in a complete-game effort.
At the plate, cleanup hitter Sage Iacovone (Liberty Township, Ohio / Moeller) pace the Golden Eagles with a 2-for-2 effort, while Schraer drove in two RBIs.
UPJ grabbed a quick 2-0 advantage in the second inning of the game two, yet Charleston kept themselves in the game by capitalizing on an error in bottom of the third. The fielding error allowed Ross Easterling (Logan, W.Va. / Logan) to get in scoring position with two outs, which Andy Stichter (Inglis, Fla. / Dunnellon) took advantage of with an RBI single through the middle of the infield to get UC within 2-1.
The University of Charleston bats went cold for two innings before exploding for three-runs on four hits in the bottom half of the sixth inning. Stichter led the home half of the sixth off with a single to right centerfield, before being advanced to second base on a Iacovone sacrifice bunt putting the tying run in scoring position. Leading hitter, Schraer did his part in knotting the game at 2-2 with a hard single through the middle to score Stichter.
Senior Garrett Proctor (Fleming, Ohio / Vincent-Warren) followed the Schraer single with a double to rightfield putting both runners in scoring position, which forced the Pitt-Johnstown defense to play shallow around the infield in an attempt to cut down any go-ahead runs. The defensive shift in the defense would not serve well for the Mountain Cats as freshman Ryan Foster (Cincinnati, Ohio / Colerain) placed a softly hit fly-ball single on the back dirt of the infield just out of reach of the defenders allowing both runners to score (4-2).
Freshman Corey Lakatos (Holden, W.Va. / Logan) took credit for his first career save as he kept his ERA spotless by finishing the game and securing the 4-2 win for reliever Alec Austin (Ronceverte, W.Va. / Greenbrier East).
Stichter provided the offensive highlights of game two with a perfect 3-for-3 performance driving in an RBI, while scoring a run himself.
The Golden Eagles will look for the wins to provide a lift headed into a key WVIAC Southern Division matchup on the road against Concord on Saturday, April 16 with first pitch set for 1:00 pm.
