For immediate release – 3/11/2014 - #248
Eight-Run Eighth Propels Hornets to 14-10 Victory
LYNCHBURG, VA – The Lynchburg College baseball team won its third game in two days, 14-10, thanks to an eight-run eighth inning against North Carolina Wesleyan College in non-conference action Tuesday.
Trailing 1-0 after the first inning, Lynchburg took its first lead on a pair of RBI doubles from Lincoln Evans and Rob Tomasulo.
The teams went back and forth in the middle innings with the Hornets sandwiching three fourth-inning Battling Bishop runs with two of their own in the third and four and the fifth to assume a 6-4 lead.
Lynchburg starter Michael Day got Hayden Williams to ground out to second base off a deflection by the first baseman, Dustin Arrowood, to start the sixth. The next three Battling Bishops reached, prompting a pitching change to Reid Goss. The top of the N.C. Wesleyan order hit Goss hard as four of the next five batters singled to take a 10-6 lead. The lone out came on an Alexis Rodriguez sacrifice fly.
James Womack entered to limit the damage and after walking Williams, who led off the sixth, induced a fielder's choice to end the inning. The visitors would not score the rest of the game.
The ERA leader for Wesleyan, Spencer Ramsey sat the Hornets down quickly in the sixth and seventh innings, but struggled in the eighth.
Joe Tomasulo singled to left before Jake Tanner punished a hanging curveball, sending it deep over the left-field wall for his first homer of the season. The no-doubter cut the deficit to 10-8 and chased Ramsey out of the game in the process.
Dillon Moore came in for Ramsey and bookended an Evans walk with a pair of fly outs. Coach Charlie Long then played the percentages, bringing in lefty Matthew Rhyne to face Rob Tomasulo and Arrowood.
Rhyne hit Tomasulo with a pitch and got Arrowood to hit a pop fly down the right-field line. It appeared the visitors would escape with the 10-8 lead, but the pop-up was dropped by the second baseman in foul territory. Rhyne hit Arrowood with the next pitch to load the bases, prompting another pitching change to make Wil Parsons face a right-handed pitcher.
The new Battling Bishop hurler, Daniel Carroll, hit Parsons with his curveball, cutting the lead to 10-9. Jay Kenyon stepped in and swung early against Carroll, sending the pitch back up the middle, plating Arrowood and Tomasulo to stake Lynchburg an 11-10 lead.
Another hit batter, Tanner this time, gave LC a 12-10 advantage and Drew Taylor's two-RBI single to left-center produced the final score as Lynchburg batted around in the frame.
Womack (1-0) worked 2 1/3 hitless innings of relief to pick up the win. Colton Steber closed out the game with a hitless ninth.
Evans went 3-for-5 for the Hornets while Parsons, Kenyon and Tanner drove in three runs each.
Luis Palencia went 3-for-5 for N.C. Wesleyan (4-12-1) with a run scored.
Lynchburg (10-3/2-2) travels to Guilford College (8-9/2-2) Wednesday afternoon for a 3 p.m. Old Dominion Athletic Conference matchup.