Baseball Holds Off Late Comeback by Kutztown
PHILADELPHIA – Thomas Jefferson University baseball team (20-10) held a 10-1 lead heading into the sixth inning. Kutztown University (12-21) began to get their momentum in the last four innings, scoring eight runs to get within three runs. The Rams held off the late surge by the Golden Bears as Jefferson won 12-9 over Kutztown in non-conference action.
WHAT HAPPENED
Josh Lopez and Joshua Lopez both drove a single down the field, getting a runner to homeplate in the first inning for a 2-0 lead in favor of Jefferson. Both teams were held scoreless in the second and third inning, but the Rams got their offense on the attack with seven runs in the fourth. Gabe Silva hit a two-run homerun for a 4-0 lead. Chris McLean was hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded to earn another run. Jo. Lopez made contact with the ball and drove a grand slam out to left field, putting Jefferson's lead to 9-0 after four innings.
The Golden Bears got on the board in the fifth inning with a single that had one runner make homeplate for Kutztown. Justin Egner responded by getting Alex Gonzalez to home with a single towards center field for a 10-1 lead.
The Golden Bears started to get momentum in their offense, knocking back-to-back homeruns in the sixth inning to trail Jefferson 10-3. After they held Jefferson scoreless in the bottom of the inning, Kutztown got two more runs in the seventh, trailing by five. Jordan Tiburcio nailed a single to third base for another Ram runner to score, getting the difference back to six.
Jefferson put another run on the board by way of a wild pitch that brought Egner to home, making the match 12-5 heading into the ninth inning. The Golden Bears seemed to rally back once more, having their second back-to-back homerun outing in this inning, with the first one being a three-run homerun to make it 12-9. The Rams were able to get the last two outs on fielder's choices, concluding the non-conference matchup with a win over Kutztown.
QUICK HITS
Justin Egner: 3-for-4, 3 R, 1 RBI
Josh Lopez: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Gabe Silva: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Joshua Lopez: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI
Aiden Barbour: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 SO
UP NEXT
Jefferson will have a short turnaround as they head down to Citizens Bank Park to compete in the Bill Giles Invitational Championship match on Wednesday, April 10 at 1 p.m. where they take on West Chester University. The Rams battled the Golden Rams last season in the championship game, which saw West Chester won the matchup 5-2 over Jefferson.
