Marlins Fall to No. 18 Oswego State in Sunday DH
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Virginia Wesleyan College baseball team scored 10 runs in Sunday's doubleheader, but fell to No. 18 Oswego State in the two contests. The first game was scheduled for nine innings with the second set for a seven-inning contest.
Game 1: 10-4 Oswego State Victory
Oswego State led the game off with a Wes Randall leadoff triple, later scoring on a groundout to first. The Lakers scored again in the first followed by an RBI single from John Barnes.
The Marlins responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first to tie the contest. Justin Erby led off the inning with a single up the middle. He then stole second, moving to third on a groundout. Randy Neisz singled to right field, scoring Erby for the first run. Deon Hammond doubled down the left field line to chase Neisz home, making the score 2-2.
The Lakers scored again in the second to take the lead back 3-2, before a four-run third put the visitors up 7-2. The third was highlighted by Collin Thompson's two-RBI double down the right field line.
Oswego scored a pair in the top of the sixth to put the game out of reach at 9-2. The Marlins scored lone runs in the bottom of the third and eighth innings, but could not put together enough offense to rally back against the Lakers.
Hammond was 3-for-3 for the Marlins including two RBI and a run scored. Chance Pauley (1-1) struck out two in three innings of work.
Game 2: 7-6 Oswego State Victory (8 innings)
The second game remained scoreless until the top of the fourth inning as pitching was on display early.
Hamilton led off the Laker fourth with a hit by pitch, moving up on a walk. A sacrifice bunt pushed both runners up a base where Hamilton could race home on a sacrifice fly, giving Oswego a run without the benefit of a hit.
Patrick Monteverde drew the start for the Marlins and went five innings, doing a great job of limiting the Oswego lineup. He struck out seven on the afternoon, including five in the first two innings. He allowed just one earned run in his five frames on four hits and two walks.
The Lakers scored two more in the fifth inning and one more in the sixth, allowing them to take a 4-0 lead.
Virginia Wesleyan rallied in the bottom of the sixth, posting a crooked four on the scoreboard to tie the contest. Justin Erby led off the inning with a single up the middle before back-to-back walks loaded the bases with one out. Hammond reached first on a throwing error by the pitcher, advancing Neisz to third and scoring Justin and Taylor Erby to cut the lead in half. Lindsay entered as a pinch hitter and singled to right-center, scoring Neisz and Hammond to tie the game.
Oswego scored a pair in the top of the seventh to take the lead again, 6-4. The first scored on a balk before a Myles Kutscher triple scored Hamilton for the sixth run.
The Marlins had a final rally in them, taking advantage of a Laker error to score a pair of unearned runs on a Neisz double to deep left-center.
Oswego State took advantage of an error of its own in the top of the eighth. Robert Donnelly singled to start the inning, moving to second on a sacrifice bunt before scoring ultimately the game-winning run on an error.
Lindsay finished the game with two RBI for the Marlins while Neisz went 3-for-3 including a double, two RBI, and a run scored.
Reston Pettit started the second game for the Lakers, surrendered four unearned runs in six innings while striking out five.
Virginia Wesleyan (4-6) will travel to Christopher Newport University (9-8) for a 2 p.m. non-conference start on Tuesday.