Baseball

Baseball
Thiel 11, Bethany 6 -- a seven-run fifth inning enabled Thiel (21-17, 8-8 PAC) to erase a 6-2 deficit and pull away for an 11-6 victory over Bethany in the opener of a crucial three-game PAC series. The loss dropped Bethany to 13-22 (9-7 PAC). The Bison need to win one of two today against Thiel to clinch a berth in the PAC tournament next weekend. With a 5-2 lead, Bethany, senior Aaron Meadows (Wellsville, Ohio) lofted a sacrifice fly to center to put Bethany in front 6-2. The fifth is when the wheels came off for BC. Junior starter Brett Bartholomew (Boardman, Ohio) retired the first two batters, but Thiel would string together seven hits to push seven runs across and take the lead for good at 9-6. Bartholomew took the loss, allowing 9 runs (4 earned) on 13 hits in 4.2 innings. Thiel out-hit Bethany by a 16-5 margin in the single nine-inning contest.
Thiel senior Rich McNeal (East Palestine, Ohio) improved to 6-3 on the season with the victory, allowing six runs (2 earned) on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts in 6.2 innings. McNeal's six wins this season ties him first among Tomcat all-time leaders in victories in a single season. He also moved in to second place on the career wins list with 12.
Thursday's Baseball Scores
Boston College 9, Dartmouth 6
Cent. Connecticut St. 6-8, Brown 4-10
Mount St. Mary's, Md. 11, Coppin St. 6
Towson 5, Delaware St. 2
W. Illinois 6, Wis.-Platteville 5, 11 innings
NCAA Division I Men's Volleyball
At State College, Pa.
Semifinals
Thursday, May 4
UCLA def. Indiana-Purdue-Ft. Wayne, 3-0 (30-25, 30-23, 30-28)
UC Irvine (27-4) vs. Penn State (20-8), late
Championship
Saturday, May 6
UCLA (25-12) vs. UC Irvine-Penn State winner, 7 p.m.
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