Fayette Caps Season with Comeback Win at Bethany College

April 24, 2012

BETHANY, WV - Penn State Fayette baseball rallied for five runs over the final three innings on Tuesday afternoon to erase a 4-0 deficit and claim a 5-4 win at Bethany College in a non-conference game. The win gives Fayette its first win against an NCAA Division III member this year, and is the first in three years for the Roaring Lions.

Freshman Colvin Adey (Connellsville, Pa.) went 4-for-5 with a double and three RBIs to lead the Fayette comeback, and three other Roaring Lions' added multi-hit games as Fayette pounded out 16 hits on the afternoon.

Fayette (13-19, 7-11 PSUAC) finishes 2012 on a three-game win streak, the second time they won three straight this season. The other streak came April 7-11, when they swept Boyce CC before taking down Penn State Beaver in the opener of a conference doubleheader.

Bethany got on the board early against senior Sam Beucher (Connellsville, Pa.), as a lead-off single and sacrifice bunt were followed by a Fayette error to give Bethany a 1-0 lead.

Fayette had a baserunner in the first four innings, including bases loaded in the fourth, but were unable to push any runs across. Juniors Cody Ward (Connellsville, Pa.) and Nolan Zavora (Charleroi, Pa.) each cracked doubles early, but did not score.

Bethany added to their lead in the fourth, as a lead-off home run off of freshman reliever Harold McCutcheon (Claysville, Pa.) by Derek Miller gave the Bison a 2-0 advantage. Juls Leto added an RBI double and TJ Zarewicz hit a sacrifice fly to center for a 4-0 Bethany lead.

The Roaring Lions finally got going in the seventh, as sophomore Braden Royer (Greensburg, Pa.) was hit by a pitch to lead-off the inning. Zavora singled and sophomore Alex Fogle (Connellsville, Pa.) hit an RBI single to get Fayette on the board. Adey then smacked a two-out, two-run double to bring Fayette within one, 4-3.

Senior Jonathan Eicher (Uniontown, Pa.) gave up two hits but no runs in two innings of relief, taking over for McCutcheon in the sixth, stranding three Bison runners to keep Fayette close.

Fogle started the ninth inning rally for Fayette, leading off with a single, and eventually advanced to third on a Beucher single. Adey's infield single scored Fogle to tie the game at 4-4. With nobody out, Eicher grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to advance Beucher to third. Senior Zach Durbin (Carmichaels, Pa.), who came in to pitch in relief in the eighth, then singled home Beucher, who scored two runs, for the go-ahead run and Fayette's first lead.

Durbin would make that lead stick, retiring Bethany in order to pick up the win with two shutout innings in relief.

Zavora, Eicher and Fogle each finished with two hits for the Roaring Lions, as all of Fayette's starters added at least one hit, and every Fayette batter reached base at least once.