ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. - Senior Christian Sanderson (Lynchburg, Va./Jefferson Forest) went 2 for 4 and drove in the tying run in the seventh as the No. 16 Randolph-Macon baseball team rallied past St. Mary's 5-2 Wednesday afternoon.
The Yellow Jackets improved to 10-0, a school record for consecutive victories at the start of a season.
R-MC took an early 1-0 lead in the second. Sophomore Cole Migliorini (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) reached on a one-out error and scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Michael Trentham (Midlothian, Va./James River). That lead was short-lived, as the Seahawks (5-6) used a two-run triple with none away in the bottom of the frame to take a 2-1 advantage. It could have been more, but junior Nic Phelps (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) struck out the next three hitters to keep it a one-run contest.
The Yellow Jackets finally broke through in the seventh. With one away, sophomore Rick Spiers (South Chesterfield, Va./Matoaca) reached on an infield single and moved to second as Trentham fouled out to the catcher. Pinch-hitter Michael Kroll (Virginia Beach, Va./Cape Henry) was intentionally walked. Sanderson singled to center to plate Spiers with the tying run and move Kroll to third. Freshman Jeffrey Butler (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) walked to load the bases and junior Herminio Azor (Fairfax, Va./Robinson) drew a base on balls to bring home Kroll with the go-ahead run.
R-MC added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth. Trentham had a leadoff single and scored on a two-out single by Butler, who promptly stole second. Azor walked and senior Mitchell Keeler (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) singled to drive in Butler and make it 5-2.
Sophomore Christian Cok (Chester, S.C./Lewisville) retired the Seahawks in order in the bottom of the ninth with a strikeout and two groundouts to record his third save.
Phelps pitched five innings with five hits, one earned run, one walk and five strikeouts. Senior Tanner Phillips (Powhatan, Va./Powhatan) picked up the win, allowing one hit in one inning with one strikeouts to raise his record to 2-0. Freshman Patrick Solomita (Chesterfield, Va./Manchester) tossed two hitless innings with a pair of punchouts before Cok sealed the win. The R-MC relievers combined to retire the final 11 Seahawk batters.
Randolph-Macon begins ODAC play at home this weekend against Guilford. The Yellow Jackets host the Quakers on Saturday at 2 p.m. and on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will be played on Hugh Stephens Field at Estes Park.