February 23, 2018

More openers on Friday

More news about: Messiah | Montclair State | Southern Vermont
 
Messiah junior Rhett Jacoby got the Greyhound
season started with a win over Stevenson.
Messiah athletics photo

Moravian opened its 2018 season with a 1-0 victory over Stevenson in the first game of the Floyd B. Wilcox Memorial Tournament being played at Hampden-Sydney Friday. Junior Rhett Jacoby made the start on the mound for the Greyhounds, and he scattered two hits and struck out five in seven innings of action. Freshman Rodney Berger tossed the final two innings and allowed just one hit. Moravian had 13 hits in the game with junior center fielder Austin Markowski going 3-for-4 with two runs. Junior third baseman Evan Kulig was 2-for-5 with five RBIs and a pair of runs scored while senior designated hitter Joey Maker went 2-for-3 and junior left fielder Mike Mittl was 2-for-5.

Washington and Lee scored five runs in the second inning on its way to securing a 7-6 upset over top-ranked Cortland at Cap'n Dick Smith Field. First-year starter Peyton McCann stymied the Cortland offense through 5.0 innings to earn his first collegiate victory. He gave up one unearned run on just three hits with four strikeouts. Danny Devereux threw the final 4.0 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits to notch his third save of the season. This marks the second straight season W&L has upset the top-ranked team in the country. The Blue and White defeated Shenandoah, 3-1, on April 5, 2017, when the Hornets were the No. 1 ranked team. Cortland lost to Roanoke 3-1 later in the day as the Maroons scored three times in the second inning.

Chapman beat the visiting Pomona-Pitzer 8-0 behind an outstanding effort from starting pitcher junior Matt Mogollon. The Panthers scored eight runs to hand the Sagehens their first loss in the SCIAC. Mogollon pitched all nine innings, allowing just four hits while striking out six batters. The junior didn't allow a hit until the third inning and went 1-2-3 in the top of the first to get the ball rolling for Chapman. And the runs rolled in, four in the first and four more in the middle inning.

Junior left fielder Nick Martinez went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs in his Montclair State debut as the Red Hawks rallied in the ninth and scored twice in the 11th inning for a 6-4 victory over Mary Washington. Sophomore third baseman Joe Norton had two hits, an RBI and scored three times, once on the ninth as part of the rally and again in the eleventh to take the lead.

JC Ball was one of nine Scarlet Raiders with
multiple RBI Friday.
Rutgers Newark athletics photo
Behind a gem from senior hurler Mike Zibrin and 30 runs on 23 hits, the Rutgers-Newark improved to 2-1 on the young 2018 season with an 30-0 win over the College of New Rochelle. Rutgers-Newark put the game out of reach early, scoring seven times in the first inning, three more times in the second and 11 times in the fourth.

Texas-Tyler senior pitcher Ryan Cheatham threw seven scoreless innings and Alex Bishop and Bowie Farris each drove in three runs to help lead the Patriots to an 11-4 win over previously unbeaten Texas Lutheran at Katt-Isbel Field. Blake Wilson, Farris and Bishop led the Patriots with a pair of three-hit nights, while Ben Romines went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Wilson, who now leads Texas-Tyler with 12 hits through eight games, was 3-for-4 with two RBI from the leadoff spot of the lineup while Bishop had three RBI on a 3-for-5 performance. Farris, who was hitting ninth, went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI for the Patriots who finished the game with a season-high 14 hits.

George Fox scored 13 runs on 15 hits as they improved to 4-0 in Northwest Conference play with a 13-4 victory over the Linfield Wildcats. The top of the Bruin lineup was locked in on Friday as Jerred Seamons and Sam Swenson each racked up four RBIs. Tamanaha and Voelzke each drove in two, and Turner Glenn's RBI in the ninth gave the freshman his fifth of the year. Cameron Jack's strong outing earned him his second win of the season.

Southern Vermont got its 2018 regular season underway with the Mountaineers splitting a pair of games at Hoy Field in the opening day of Gallaudet's Bison Classic. SVC topped GU 12-6 in the early contest to start the season on a good note, but the Mountaineers then fell 10-5 to Marymount in the backend of the twin bill—that game being ended after eight innings of play due to dark conditions.

Sam Carpenter struckout 12 batters in eight
innings, moving to 2-1 on the season in game
one of a doubleheader with Berea.
Piedmont athletics photo by Karl Moore

Piedmont claimed a pair of victories to seal the first USA South series of the year over Berea. The Lions took game one 11-0 and won game two 14-2 in seven innings.  Game one was a dominant win thanks to an explosive offense and Sam Carpenter's masterful work on the mound. Carpenter pitched eight innings giving up just three hits and striking out 12 of the 26 batters he faced. Carpenter moved to 2-1 on the season with the win.  Brady Ballstadt was 4-for-5 at the plate in game one including going yard with a 2-RBI homer in the fifth inning. In game two, it was the fifth inning where Piedmont did its damage with six runs on two hits, two errors and three walks enroute to the run-rulled victory.

Taking on Susquehanna in the Crusaders opener, Christopher Newport senior Logan Harrelson had the River Hawks off balance all day long, twirling eight shutout innings with eight strikeouts to pick up his first win of the season. The Captains won, 7-0, improving to 6-2 on the year with three shutouts. Harrelson matched a career-high with 8.0 innings of work while facing just three batters over the minimum. He combined with rookie reliever Carter Strain for a four-hit shutout with just 30 batters faced in the contest. Offensively, the top highlight came in a five-run third inning when junior catcher Ryan Grubbs pelted a grand slam into the netting over the left field wall. It was his third career home run and first of the season. Senior Craig Johnson was 3-for-5 and junior Nicholas Baham was 2-for-3 to lead a 10-hit effort for the Captains.

CJ Edmond hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the fifth inning of game two and Covenant responded after a game one loss to split a doubleheader with No. 10-ranked LaGrange on Friday. The Scots dropped game one, 13-5, but rebounded with an 8-6 win in the second game to even the series. The two teams will play the rubber game of the three-game series on Saturday morning. Covenant goes to 3-6 on the year and 1-1 in USA South play. LaGrange, ranked No. 10 in the preseason d3baseball.com Top 25, goes to 7-7 and 1-1 in the conference.

Reid Gibbs went 4 for 5 with three doubles, two RBIs and a pair of runs scored, and Josh Cohen dealt a complete-game victory as Occidental knocked off defending NCAA Division III national champion Cal Lutheran 7-3 on the road. Gibbs, Oxy's junior shortstop from Orinda, had his hands all over the result. With the Tigers down 2-0 in the top of the third, he doubled in Michael Netzel and Derek Sun, he led off a two-run sixth with a double, and singled and stole second when Oxy put two more runs on the board in the eighth. Cohen, Oxy's senior ace from Berkeley, struck out eight batters with just two walks and one earned run in a 122-pitch effort.