WASHINGTON, Pa. (May 7, 2009) – The Thiel College Tomcats opened the 2009 Presidents’ Athletic Conference Tournament with a bang (18 of them, actually), downing the Thomas More Saints, 11-5. Thiel will play the winner of Thursday’s Washington & Jefferson-Grove City match at noon on Friday.
The Tomcats (28-13) didn’t rely on the customary “big inning” in their tourney opener, but instead poured the runs on steadily over the nine-frame affair while burning through six Thomas More pitchers.
Thiel starter Josh Tedesco, on the other hand, breezed through seven five-hit innings to earn his ninth win of the year.
The lefty was touched up for only one run in the outing – a Chris Fishburn homer in the first.
Second baseman Luke Johnson came through as Thiel’s biggest offensive hero in a game that was full of them. The sophomore went 4-for-4 from the dish, while driving in three runs and scoring one more.
Three Tomcats – Chad Ulogar, Justin Scarpitti, and Louie Parilla – paced the winning effort, scoring two runs apiece.
Scarpitti scored one of his runs when he led-off the third inning with a homer to right-centerfield. The blast was his team-leading eighth of the season.
Thiel – the visitors in the game – never trailed in the contest, after jumping out to an early three-run lead. Fishburn got a run back for the Saints in the bottom half of the inning with his shot to leftfield.
Down, 11-1, in the bottom of the eighth, Thomas More posted a pair of runs in each of its final two at-bats to set the final.
James Teyssier and Justin Fiorello pitched the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, for Thiel. Only one of the Saints’ runs in the seventh inning was earned.