LYNCHBURG, Va. - Seniors Travis Lodge (Chesterfield, Va./Matoaca) and Nick Maiolo (Powhatan, Va./Powhatan) both scored on an error as the second-ranked and second-seeded Randolph-Macon baseball team outlasted top-seeded and ninth-ranked Shenandoah 4-2 Saturday evening in the ODAC Tournament Saturday evening at City Stadium.
The Yellow Jackets (31-6-1) remain undefeated in the tournament and will meet fourth-seeded Hampden-Sydney at 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon at Liberty Baseball Stadium for the ODAC title. The Tigers must beat R-MC twice to claim the crown. The Yellow Jackets are looking for their sixth ODAC championship and first since 2013.
After six scoreless frames, Lodge led off the 12th with a walk. Maiolo singled to right center to advance Lodge to second. Senior Mitchell Keeler (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) laid down a sacrifice bunt down the third base line and the errant throw to first allowed both Lodge and Maiolo to score, giving the Yellow Jackets a 4-2 lead.
In the bottom of the 12th, closer Christian Cok (Chester, S.C./Lewisville) took the mound for his fourth inning of work. He surrendered a leadoff single, but a pair of fielder's choices followed by a flyout to center ended the longest ODAC tourney game in terms of innings.
Cok (7-0) allowed two hits in four innings with no walks and two strikeouts. He relieved freshman Colin Selby (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch), who surrendered five hits and two runs in nine innings with four walks and eight strikeouts.
The Hornets (32-10) scored in the bottom of the second before R-MC responded in the top of the fourth. Junior Stuart Brown (Midlothian, Va./Trinity) had a one-out single, stole second, stole third and scored on a throwing error to make it a 1-1 game.
SU reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fourth 2-1. In the top of the sixth, Brown reached on an error, moved to second on a bunt single by freshman Jeffrey Butler (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch), advanced to third on a bunt single by sophomore Rick Spiers (South Chesterfield, Va./Matoaca) and scored in a fielder's choice by senior Christian Sanderson (Lynchburg, Va./Jefferson Forest) to level the score at 2-2.
Maiolo and Brown both had two hits for the Yellow Jackets.