RMC edges CNU in key regional contest

 
Western New England opened their season with a 9-8 win
over Clark in 12 innings. The Golden Bears needed a two
run ninth to extend the game. Clark falls to 1-3.
Western New England athletics photo

Senior Reece Yeargain drove in four, including the game-winner in the ninth, senior Ryan Duphorn scored three times, including the deciding run, and senior Tyler Dunn tossed two scoreless innings to earn the victory, as the No. 17 Randolph-Macon edged Christopher Newport on Tuesday afternoon. RMC fell behind after a six run CNU fifth but single runs in three of the final four innings were enough for a win.

Saint Elizabeth trailed 7-0 after the third inning, but put forth a dramatic and valiant effort to complete the comeback and win 9-7 in the program's first-ever game on a cold and rainy day at Rutgers-Newark. The Eagles (1-0) trailed 6-0 after the first inning and 7-0 after the third inning, but scored four in the fourth, one in the fifth, two in the sixth, and two in the seventh while keeping Rutgers-Newark (2-3) scoreless to complete the incredible comeback.

No late inning comeback was needed for the Lynx as Rhodes defeated Belhaven 7-4 in a tune up for a three game series with No. 3 Birmingham-Southern this weekend. After three walk-off wins, the habit was hard to break as Will Heurtin drove in Peter York in the Lynx' fnal inning.

After scoring four runs in their first two games, the Castleton Spartans found the offensive magic that eluded them. In a sweep of NVU-Lyndon, Castleton scored 36 runs to take the two game set 13-10, 23-4 and move to 4-0.

Six was a magic number for the Generals. Six runs after the sixth inning helped Washington and Lee pull away from N.C. Wesleyan in its 10-3 win for their sixth victory.  The win propels the Generals to 6-0 overall on the season, the first 6-0 start to a campaign since 1948. The Battling Bishops fall to 2-8 overall with the loss. Chapin Bassi led the offense with three hits on the day, scored twice and drove in a run.

In its final game before jetting off for spring break, Eastern Nazarene downed Plymouth State 9-5 in extra innings at the New England Baseball Complex. The Lions climb to 3-0 on the year with the victory while the Panthers dip to 0-1 overall with the result. Hunter Leroux-Porter paced the offense with a pair of hits, five RBIs, and one run scored on the day. Dylan Louviaux and Steven Pesce both notched two base knocks, two runs scored, and one RBI in the contest. Joshua Bombard chipped in with a pair of runs scored, one hit, and one RBI.

On day two of the RussMatt Invitational, sophomore Jake Schaefer connected for his second consecutive walk-off to propel the Panthers past Cabrini in exta innings, 6-5. The sophomore provided the clutch hit in the bottom of the 12th inning as he sent the ball to right field scoring senior Mark Walkenhorst for the bench clearing run. The Panthers finished with six runs on 10 hits led by Schaefer with three hits and two RBI. Teammate Charlie Burton added two RBI on two hits. The Panther pitching staff continued to dominate on the mound as junior Justin Pope, who pitched a complete game with 11 strikeouts in the team's Florida opener, passed the torch to freshman Charlie Joyce who went four complete innings with four strikeouts. Senior Zach Chapman claimed the win, surrendering just one hit.

EMU Royals scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the lead against Averett on their way to a 6-5 win. The game, originally scheduled for Wednesday, was pushed to Tuesday to avoid potential inclement weather. The Royals do not play again until they head to Myrtle Beach, S.C. for their Spring Break trip in March. Jacob Merica and Ray Tricarico both went 3-5 and combined for 3 RBI. 

Senior Dillon Bowman worked five scoreless innings
in his first career start to help lead JHU to a 10-5
victory on Tuesday evening.

Johns Hopkins athletics photo

No. 3-ranked Birmingham-Southern held on to beat Covenant 7-6 at Striplin Field. After a rocky top of the first inning that saw the Panthers give up three runs to the Scots, BSC took the lead with a big four-run half-inning of its own. 'Southern then added single runs in the second, fourth, and eighth innings. Covenant made it interesting in the top of the ninth, scoring two runs to cut BSC's lead to one run. The Scots had the tying run on third base with just one out, but on a pop up to shallow center, the runner left the bag assuming the ball would drop. Shortstop Alfredo Granier made the catch and ended the game, firing the ball to third baseman Brian Williams for the force out and the double play.

Another day, another offensive explosion. The Capital offense has been on fire since the beginning of the season, scoring at least eight runs in each of their first five games, the most recent being a 16 run assault versus Franklin that moved the team to 5-0. In the past, the pitching staff has been a sticking point for the Crusaders but through five games this season, games have been kept well in hand, allowing for the offense to take over.

Berry (5-3) bested the Maryville Scots (5-5) 10-4 on the road. Berry's Tanner Still earned his first win of the season, tossing a 4.0 inning no-hitter. Derrick Newman opened scoring in the fourth inning with a bases-clearing triple to put Berry up 3-0. An error and a Zack Walch single in the inning extended the lead to 5-0. Berry added another in the fifth before Maryville cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning. The Vikings added three more in the sixth to effectively put the game away. Trevor Proctor drove in Evan Romeo in the eighth to put the Vikings up 10-1. Maryville's rally stalled at three runs in the home half of the inning.

Emory & Henry (4-4) held off a ninth-inning rally by Johnson University (0-8) to pick up its fourth-straight win, 6-4, on the road. Emory & Henry got on the board with four runs in the top of the second and pushed the margin to 6-0 in the fifth as junior third baseman Hayden Milley singled to right field and freshman Eli Milhorn hit a sacrifice fly. Johnson scored its first run in the bottom of the sixth frame and tacked on three runs in the bottom of the ninth, scoring twice with the bases loaded and two outs. E&H senior Ethan Cave entered the game and got the final out to seal the win and earn the save.