Grand Slam Lifts Baseball Against West Virginia State; Splits Games at Wilson Tobs Tournament

WILSON, N.C. - Down by three runs in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and bases load, Alexander Angulo nailed a grand slam to lift Thomas Jefferson University baseball (4-2) over West Virginia State University (4-5). The Rams dropped their second game on the day to Clarion University (4-3) 7-4. 

WHAT HAPPENED 
GAME ONE: W, 8-7 

• Jefferson got out to an early lead in the second with a Julio Frometa Gomez ground out at first that allowed Kyle Kozlowski to run to homeplate. The next two innings went scoreless as Zane Loveday and Albert Bobadilla showed up on the mound for their respective teams 

• The Yellow Jackets nailed a two-run homerun in the top of the fifth to get a 2-1 lead over Jefferson, but Joshua Lopez responded with his own homerun in the bottom of the sixth to have the score even at 2-2 

• The seventh and eighth went scoreless, setting up the turn of events for the ninth inning. West Virginia State garnered five runs to go up 7-3 

• Jefferson slowly got runners to homeplate as Javon Hernandez sacrifice flyout to right field and Thomas Matuszewski single added two runs on the board, making it a 7-4 game with two outs for the Rams 

• After a Lopez and Gabe Silva walk loaded the bases, Angulo came in and, with a 2-2 count, hit the ball far down left field to get the walkoff grand slam to secure the 8-7 win for Jefferson 

• Bobadilla pitched seven innings, allowing only 2 runs and striking out six batters 

• This win put head coach Pat Horvath at 258 career wins for the Rams, making him the program's all-time winningest coach 

QUICK HITS 
Alexander Angulo: 1-for-2, 1 R, 4 RBI, 1 GS 
Joshua Lopez: 1-for-2, 2 R, 1 RBI 
Thomas Matuszewski: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI 
Javon Hernandez: 2-for-3, 1 RBI 
Justin Egner: 2-for-3 
Justin Espinal: 1-for-3, 1 R 
Albert Bobadilla: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 6 SO 
Cole Roschel: 1.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 SO 

GAME TWO: L, 7-4 

• After two scoreless innings, Hernandez bunt single brought Lou Spadafora to homeplate, getting a 1-0 lead for the Rams. A steal to third by Hernandez plus a walk by Lopez had a potential for more earned runs, but Clarion got two strikes out swinging for only a one run lead 

• Matuszewski single to left field and an error by the left fielder let Hernandez score and made it a 2-0 game 

• The Golden Eagles tied it up by way of a two-run homerun to rightfield. The Rams responded with two runs of their own in the top of the seventh as Lopez sacrifice flyout to right field scored a run while a Matuszweski fielder's choice caused a Clarion error that put another Ram at homeplate for a 4-2 lead 

• The Golden Eagles scored on a double in the bottom of the seventh to make it 4-3. In the bottom of the eighth, two errors, a fielder's choice, and a double got Clarion four runs and the lead over Jefferson 

• After two strikeouts and two walks, a flyout to left field ended the day for the Rams in a 7-4 defeat 

• Tyler Behm pitched six innings, allowing two runs while having six strikeouts of his own 

QUICK HITS 
Thomas Matuszewski: 1-for-2, 1 RBI 
Javon Hernandez: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI 
Tyler Behm: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 6 SO 

UP NEXT 
Jefferson will finish their time at the Wilson Tobs Tournament as they go against West Virginia State on Sunday, March 2 at 11 a.m.