VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Senior Jay Patti (Sparks, Md./Hereford) homered and drove in six as the ninth-ranked Randolph-Macon baseball team posted an 11-3 victory at Virginia Wesleyan Wednesday afternoon in ODAC action.
Patti had a grand slam to cap a six-run first and a two-run double to spark a four-run seventh for the Yellow Jackets (14-4, 5-0 ODAC).
R-MC exploded in the top of the first. Freshman Ryan Duphorn (Erial, N.J./Paul VI) had a leadoff walk, moved to second when sophomore Jeff Butler (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) reached on an error on a sacrifice bunt, advanced to third on a bunt single by junior Rick Spiers (South Chesterfield, Va./Matoace) and came home on a single by junior Cole Migliorini (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge). Senior Stuart Brown (Midlothian, Va./Trinity) brought in Butler with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Following a walk to senior Blake Saathoff (Catonsville, Md./Archbishop Spalding), Patti blasted a grand slam to right center to give the visitors a 6-0 lead.
R-MC added a run in the second as Duphorn had a leadoff single and scored on a fielder's choice by Brown to make it a 7-0 contest.
The Marlins (8-10, 1-4 ODAC) tallied two in the fifth and one in the sixth before the Yellow Jackets finished the scoring in the seventh. Brown and Saathoff had consecutive one-out singles and both came in on a double by Patti to make it 9-3. Patti scored when Duphorn reached on an error and sophomore Ian Pape (Stafford, Va./North Stafford) walked and scored on a groundout by Butler to make the final 11-3.
Spiers, Migliorini and freshman Zach Evans (Fort Mill, S.C./Seneca) each had two hits, while Duphorn scored twice for R-MC.
Freshman Michael Zubovich (Chantilly, Va./Freedom) earned the win, going 5.0 innings with six hits, two runs, one walk and three strikeouts to raise his record to 3-0. Sophomore Nick Roth III (Henrico, Va./Benedictine) fanned three in the sixth before Spiers tossed three scoreless frames with two hits, two walks and four punchouts to notch his fourth save.
Randolph-Macon returns to action on Saturday, March 25 at Bridgewater for a noon ODAC doubleheader.