LATROBE, Pa. – La Roche baseball traveled to face St. Vincent on Tuesday afternoon and battled to a 9-8 victory in extra innings.
St. Vincent was the first to score, in the bottom of the first, behind a bases loaded walk to make it 1-0, then a sacrifice fly to go ahead by two.
Larry Bielawski cut the deficit in half in the top of the fourth with an RBI single, but the lead was back to two runs in the bottom of the fourth, then up to 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth, of a pair of RBI singles by the Bearcats.
Bielawski again pulled through in the top of the sixth, belting a three-run homer, tying the game at 4-4.
The tie was short lived, as St. Vincent moved ahead, 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth off an RBI double, then went back ahead by two, 6-4, in the bottom of the seventh after a La Roche balk.
Tanner Schmitt would get the Redhawks back on the board in the top of the eighth, driving in a pair with a single to even the score at 6-6. However, the tie was again short lived, as an RBI single by the Bearcats in the bottom of the eighth gave the lead back to St. Vincent.
Down to its final out in the top of the ninth, La Roche was trailing 7-6, until Christian Melendez delivered a two-run homer to give the Redhawks their first lead of the day, 8-7.
The Bearcats, however, wouldn't go away, tying the game in the bottom of the ninth with a sacrifice fly to force extra innings.
DJ Loveland would provide the heroics for the red and white, delivering a two-out, RBI double to give a 9-8 edge to La Roche, then the pitching staff sealed the victory in the bottom half of the 10th for the victory.
Aaron Exler got the start an in the no-decision, threw six innings, allowing five runs, nine hits, two walks and struck out two.
Caden Maffitt earned the win in relief, allowing one run, one hit, two walks and struck out three in two innings, while Samuel
DiCicco and Eiramzared Rivera combined to throw two innings, allowing two runs, three hits, two walks and one strikeout by Rivera.
Offensively, the Redhawks collected 11 hits, led by Bielawski's 3-for-4 day. Schmitt and Melendez each added a pair of hits to the cause.
La Roche is right back on the diamond tomorrow, Wednesday, Apr. 23, when they host Mount Union in another non-conference clash. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m.