Seventh Inning Run Insures Sweep of Guilford
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- A run in the bottom of the seventh inning broke a 3-3 tie as the Virginia Wesleyan baseball team went on to a 4-3 victory over Guilford College in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play Sunday.
The two teams traded runs in the third inning before the Marlins took the lead for the first time in the fourth inning behind a pair of Quaker errors.
Brandon Kussmaul singled through the left side and stole second, moving to third on an errant throw from the catcher. An out later, Guilford had a chance to get out of the inning, but the third baseman threw the ball in the dirt on his relay to first, allowing C.J. Lindsay to reach as Kussmaul scored.
The Marlins made it 3-1 in the fifth when Nik Milvo singled home Deon Hammond, who doubled in the previous at bat.
Guilford threated in the top of the sixth, getting runners on first and third with one out, forcing the Marlins to bring in Austin Gammon from the bullpen. The Quakers produced just one run as Gammon preserved the lead heading into the seventh.
Joe Bobiak started for the Marlins, allowing just two runs, one earned, on five hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings while striking out three.
Guilford produced another sacrifice fly in the seventh to tie the contest, but a strong bottom of the seventh carried the Marlins to victory.
Lindsay singled to the left side where the shortstop stopped the ball with a diving stop but could not make a relay throw. Corey King advanced Lindsay to second on a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt. Following a Justin Erby single, Hammond's groundout put the pair in scoring position.
A wild pitch cleared the way for Lindsay to race home for the winning score.
Erby had three hits for the Marlins, along with a stolen base. Nick Ott (2-0) won his second game in as many tries against Guilford, walking one in a scoreless inning. Riley Koonce picked up his second save of the year with a scoreless two innings.
Joe Metts had three hits for Guilford (10-8/1-3) while Grayson Tuttle contributed two hits and a run scored.
Virginia Wesleyan (9-4/3-1) hosts Hampden-Sydney College (13-6/1-1) Wednesday at 3 p.m. for a single ODAC action.