For immediate release – 3/17/2015 - #338
Hornets Stumble in Late Innings as Roanoke Comes Away with 9-5 Victory
SALEM, VA – The late innings, combined with several defensive miscues, doomed the Lynchburg College baseball team yet again as Roanoke College scored seven unanswered runs to take a 9-5 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) victory Tuesday afternoon.
Martin Henderlite got the start for the Hornets and threw his best game of the season, working 5 2/3 innings of five-hit ball, issuing just one walk while striking out five. The two runs he surrendered in the bottom of the sixth were unearned.
Lynchburg got on the board in the top of the first when Harrison Richards walked home Will Hylton with the bases loaded. Richards forced the next Hornet batter to fly out to center. The Maroon hurler would continue to work out of damage as LC stranded seven runners on base through the first three innings. The majority of those runners were due in part to control issues by Richards who walked seven Hornets in his three innings of work.
The game looked to become a pitchers' duel when the Hornets, already leading 2-0, doubled the Roanoke deficit in the sixth inning as Jonathan Munn doubled home Joe Rogers and Drew Taylor for a 4-0 advantage.
The defense began affecting LC in the bottom of the sixth when Devin Cassity reached on a one-out error. He subsequently stole second and came around to score on a Will Black double for the Maroons' first run. Clark Crutchfield singled an out later to score Black, tagging LC for another unearned run while cutting the lead back to two runs.
Lynchburg attempted to pull away in the seventh, manufacturing a run to extend the lead back to 5-2. Lincoln Evans walked with one out, stole second, and moved to third on a Joe Tomasulo single to center. Ryan Katona put the ball in play, scoring Evans on a grounder to third base.
The lead would not last as Roanoke tied the contest in the bottom of the frame. Two singles, a wild pitch, and walk loaded the bases for Cassity. His sacrifice fly scored one before a Black single loaded the bags once more. This time, an error on a fielder's choice that kept the bases loaded while scoring Kevin Oakey from third.
Michael Day induced a flyout to center off the bat of Will Decker, but due to the previous error what would have been the third out was instead a sacrifice fly to tie the game.
Similar to the seventh, Roanoke started the eighth with two hits and a walk to load the bases for Cassity once again. This time, the Maroon centerfielder singled through the left side to plate the eventual winning run and push Roanoke in front 6-5. A passed ball and error allowed three more unearned runs to score, proving to be the insurance the Maroons needed.
Munn and Joe Tomasulo had two hits each for Lynchburg while Katona added a pair of RBI.
Diego Meneses (1-0) picked up the win for the Maroons (3-5/2-3 ODAC) with two innings of work out of the 'pen. Black, Oakey, and Cal Hodgert had two hits each.
Lynchburg (5-9/2-1) hosts Tufts University (3-1), who is receiving votes in the most recent d3baseball.com poll Friday at 2 p.m.