May 10, 2019

Grinde Carries #1 R-MC Baseball to ODAC Championship Series

More news about: Randolph-Macon

Batting

Virginia Wesleyan
2B: Dylan Gentry; Brady Fallon
3B: none
HR: none
Randolph-Macon
2B: none
3B: none
HR: Kevin Mooney
full stats

SALEM, Va. - Junior first baseman Cole Grinde (Woodford, Va./Caroline) delivered an RBI single with two away in the bottom of the ninth as the top-seeded Randolph-Macon baseball team nipped fourth-seeded Virginia Wesleyan 2-1 on Saturday afternoon in an elimination game in the 2019 ODAC Tournament. The Yellow Jackets will have to defeat third-seeded Shenandoah twice on Saturday to claim the conference championship.

The Basics

Score: #1 Randolph-Macon 2, #4 Virginia Wesleyan 1

Location/Venue: Haley Toyota Field/Salem Memorial Ballpark

Records: R-MC 27-9-1, VWU 22-17

How It Happened

  • Junior right-hander Matt Nickles (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) had his most effective outing of the season, going 6.1 innings with six hits, one unearned run, one walk and three strikeouts.
  • Junior right-hander Tyler Dunn (Salisbury, Md./James M. Bennett) fanned two of the three hitters he faced in the seventh to strand a pair.
  • Senior Patrick Solomita (Chesterfield, Va./Manchester) fanned two of the three batters he faced to leave the bases loaded in the eighth.
  • Senior Daniel Lachance (Clifton, Va./Centreville) rolled three ground balls in the top of the ninth and picked up his first win of the season.
  • The Yellow Jackets started the scoring in the fourth. with two away, sophomore DH Kevin Mooney (Williamsburg, Va./Jamestown) homered to left, his third of the season, to give R-MC a 1-0 advantage.
  • The Marlins tied the game and had numerous chances to take the lead, leaving nine on base.
  • Junior third baseman Mike Nickles (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge), the ODAC Player of the Year, had a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth. Mooney sacrificed Nickles to second and junior outfielder Shawn Nickles (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) was walked intentionally. With two away, Grinde lined a base hit to right center to plate Mike Nickles with the game-winner.

By The Numbers

  • Mooney went 2 for 3 for R-MC. He was the only Yellow Jacket with multiple hits.

By The Numbers

  • The R-MC senior class has posted 126 victories over the past four seasons, making them the winningest class in program history. Each class over the past four years has broken the record.

Up Next

  • Randolph-Macon will face third-seeded Shenandoah at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 11. If a second game is needed, it will be 30 minutes following the first game.