GROVE CITY, Pennsylvania – April 14, 2025 – Hiram gave a future PAC opponent all it could handle on Monday late afternoon, as the Terriers battled back before ultimately falling to a 19-9 Grove City team by a score of 5-4.

The Terriers, who will be joining the PAC next season, proved they could compete with a Wolverines roster that has now won five straight games and ranks third in the PAC standings (9-3 PAC record). While Hiram never led in the game, it nearly pulled off a magical ninth-inning comeback while trailing 5-2.

To start the ninth, Matthew Trimble singled and Tyler Fernandez was hit by a pitch to bring the tying run to home plate with no outs. Grove City struck out the next batter before Evan Fairbanks brought his team one run closer with an RBI double to center field, making it a 5-3 deficit.

John Bender came through as the pinch-hitter, lifting a sacrifice fly to cut the margin to just one run, although there were now two men retired in the inning.

One more strikeout proved to be the period on the non-conference battle, as the tying run was stranded in scoring position to send the Terriers home with a hard-fought loss.

Trimble and Logan Gallentine each had two base knocks to lead the offense, while the relief unit of Noah Brown, Cody Horvath, Owen Cooper and Cooper Smith combined for 4.1 innings with just one run allowed. Beyond the ninth inning, Hiram also scored on another sacrifice fly in the second frame (Luke Snider) and a double-steal attempt that brought home Gallentine in the seventh.

Grove City managed just seven hits in the game; the Hiram pitching staff has allowed fewer than 10 hits in four of its last five games dating back to April 4.

Despite the loss, Hiram will get a good chance to bounce back on Tuesday, when it travels to Bluffton, OH for a matchup with the Beavers at 4:15 p.m. from Memorial Field.