Marlins Bash 17 Runs in Win over Eagles

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Virginia Wesleyan College baseball team scored 15 runs in the second and third inning in route to a 17-7 victory over Bridgewater College in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play Friday afternoon.

The Eagles held an early 2-0 lead at the end of one inning on an RBI single from Kenner Berry and a sacrifice fly by Brendan Howell.

Virginia Wesleyan started bashing the ball in the top of the second and put the game out of reach quickly.

Randy Neisz connected on a deep homerun to right field with one out to cut the deficit to 2-1. Following a Brandon Kussmaul single back to the pitcher, Bridgewater made a call to the bullpen.

Matt Murray singled off the new hurler, advancing Kussmaul to third. C.J. Lindsay doubled home the pair to give Virginia Wesleyan a 3-2 edge. Following a wild pitch and a walk, Lindsay scored on an error for the 4-2 lead.

A hit by pitch of Deon Hammond loaded the bases with one out for Nik Milvo. The junior grounded a ball to the right side where a throwing error by the Bridgewater first baseman allowed another run to score, the fifth in the inning for VWC.

Taylor Erby capped off the scoring in the frame in dramatic fashion with a grand slam to left field, giving the Marlins a 9-2 lead.

Virginia Wesleyan turned to Austin Gammon out of the bullpen following a long top of the first inning. Gammon went four innings to get the win for Virginia Wesleyan.

VWC extended the lead even farther in the third inning, scoring six runs on six hits.

The inning started with three straight singles coming from Murray, Lindsay, and Corey King. The King base knock drove home Murray. Another error loaded the bases where back-to-back RBI groundouts made the score 12-2.

Taylor Erby singled home Justin Erby for a 13-2 lead and two batters later Murray doubled home Taylor Erby and Neisz for a 15-2 margin.

Austin Batten went 3-for-5 for Bridgewater (12-8/3-3) while Ryan Leake scored two runs and drove in two RBI.

Murray went 4-for-5 for the Marlins with two runs and two RBI while Taylor Erby collected two hits, scoring two runs and driving in five RBI. Justin Erby had two runs and three RBI as Lindsay and King each scored three times.

Gammon (1-0) struck out two batters while surrendering just one hit in four innings of work.

Virginia Wesleyan (11-5/5-1) will travel to No. 11/6 Randolph-Macon (14-2/2-2) for an important ODAC contest Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.