GREENVILLE, Pa. - March 26, 2023 - Chatham Baseball opened conference play with a sweep of the Thiel Tomcats on the road Sunday. The two wins make the Cougars 9-7 on the year and 2-0 in the PAC.

The scoring started for the Cougars in the top of the third with five runs. Senior third baseman Brandon Griener drew a bases loaded walk to plate the first run. Junior infielder/outfielder Jake Bredl then followed with a double that cleared the bases. Sophomore first baseman Quinn Burke hit a double of his own to drive in Bredl in the next at-bat.

The Tomcats responded with three runs in the bottom half of the third.

It was deja vu in the fourth inning for Chatham, as Griener again drew a free pass with the bases full and Bredl again doubled in three runs in the following at bat to increase the lead to 9-3.

Thiel answered with two in the fourth to make it a 9-5 ballgame.

In the seventh, junior infielder Benny Dottle drove in sophomore infielder Sammy Helton.

Chatham tacked on four more in the eighth, including RBI singles from Dottle and graduate outfielder Nico Cuello.

Bredl finished the game with six RBI which ties the program record for RBI in a game, set by Cuello against Pitt Greensburg just five days ago. Dottle went 2-4 at the plate with two RBI.

Junior pitcher Dom Costellic started the game for the Cougars and didn't allow a hit, but left the game after 2.1 innings of work.

In the second game, the Cougars offense started strong with three runs in the first inning, including a two-run homer from Griener that scored sophomore Tyler Cote.

In the third inning, Bredl continued his big day with an RBI single, which was followed by a double from Burke that drove in another run. Then, junior outfielder Dylan Vogel brought in Bredl and Burke with a single.

Over the next three innings, Thiel rallied for six unanswered runs to make it a 7-6 game in the fifth.

Chatham bounced back with 4 runs in the seventh when Burke scored on an error and Cote cleared the bases with a double to score three. 

In the ninth, Cuello doubled in Dottle for the Cougars' 12th run and then scored on Cote's sac fly.

Burke went 3-4 at the plate and scored two runs. Dottle was 2-4 and scored three runs. Zack Oddi pitched 4.2 innings in relief and struckout five batters.

Baseball is back in action Tuesday with a doubleheader at Waynesburg.