For immediate release – 3/6/2015 - #302
Bats Come to Life as Hornets Sweep Doubleheader of Eastern
CARY, NC-A pair of neutral site games seemed to be exactly what the Lynchburg College baseball team needed as the Hornets downed Eastern University 11-0 in game one before taking game two 6-4 on Friday afternoon.
The game, originally scheduled to take place on the Hornet's home field in Lynchburg, was moved to the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, North Carolina due to recent weather in central Virginia.
Lynchburg jumped out quickly on the Eagles, scoring 10 runs in the third inning while batting around to knock starting pitcher Grant Fisher from the game.
Ryan Katona led off the frame with a single and raced home on a Taylor base knock to plate the game's first run. Following an error and a walk, the bases were juiced for Jonathan Munn who singled home Drew Taylor. KC Caldwell and Wil Parsons sandwiched a fielder's choice with RBI singles to stake Lynchburg a 4-0 lead.
Joe Tomasulo drove in two with a single of his own before Katona and Taylor singled for the second time in the frame, plating a run with each hit to grow the gap to 8-0. Lynchburg scored two more runs in the inning before the Eastern pitching change put a stop to the scoring surge.
Joe Rogers led off the sixth inning with a triple and scored on a Lincoln Evans single for the final run of the game.
Michael Day (1-0) worked six shutout innings for the Hornets, striking out four while allowing two hits and four walks. Sawyer Thieringer pitched a perfect seventh frame for LC.
Eastern made game two much closer despite being limited to one hit through the first six innings by the pitching combination of Gerald Taylor and Zack Engelmann.
Lynchburg scored one in the first on an RBI double from Parsons and plated two more when Evans' double brought home Drew Taylor and Joe Tomasulo.
The Eagles scored a lone run in the fifth to cut the deficit to two. Gerald Taylor struck out the first two Eastern batters before Tommy Strazza walked in front of a Ryan McMenamin single. A fielding error scored Strazza while also chasing Gerald Taylor from the game. Engelmann entered and immediately induced a groundout to end the threat.
Will Hylton extended the gap back to four, 5-1, in the sixth with a two-RBI double and a Munn single scored one more in the sixth. The Hornets would need those clutch hits as Eastern charged back in the final inning.
The Eagles had the bases empty with one out in the seventh but an error, single and a walk loaded the bags for Joe Grato. Reid Goss came out of the bullpen and surrendered a two-run single to Grato, cutting the lead in half, 6-3. Momentum did not stay with the Eagles long as Evans mowed down Angelo Kelly trying to score on Grato's rip to right field. The Eagles scored one more before Goss shut the door for his first career save.
McMenamin finished with two hits on the day for Eastern (0-6) while Strazza ended with a pair of runs.
Evans ended with a 4-for-5 day for Lynchburg with three RBI and a run scored while Joe Tomasulo added three hits, two runs and two RBI. Gerald Taylor (1-0) pitched 4 2/3 innings of one-hit ball while allowing an unearned run on four walks to go with three strikeouts.
Lynchburg (3-6) was originally scheduled to face Washington and Lee University in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) opener on Saturday but those games have been postponed. Stay tuned to Lynchburg athletics for updates as they are made available.