February 15, 2020

Evans, Zubovich Help #20 R-MC Baseball Down #4 Cortland 8-4

Batting

Cortland
2B: Mat Bruno; Andrew Michalski
3B: none
HR: none
Randolph-Macon
2B: Cole Grinde
3B: none
HR: Shawn Nickles; Zach Evans
full stats

ASHLAND, Va. – Senior Zach Evans (Fort Mill, S.C./Seneca) launched a three-run homer in the second to start the scoring, and senior right-hander Michael Zubovich (Chantilly, Va./Freedom) fanned seven in seven solid innings, as the No. 20 Randolph-Macon baseball team downed fourth-ranked Cortland 8-4 on Saturday afternoon.

The Basics

Score: #20 Randolph-Macon 8, #4 Cortland 4

Site/Venue: Ashland, Va./Hugh Stephens Field at Estes Park

Records: R-MC 4-0, Cortland 1-1

How It Happened

  • The Yellow Jackets struck out four straight times over the first two innings and had two out and nobody on in the second. Junior Jacob Selden (Lynchburg, Va./E.C. Glass) drew a walk and moved to second when sophomore Spencer Pietruszynski (Williamsburg, Va./Jamestown) singled to left. Evans went deep over the left field fence to give R-MC a 3-0 edge.
  • An inning later, freshman Ricky Gannett (Newark, Del./St. Mark's) was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame. Following a pair of punchouts, senior Shawn Nickles (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) belted a homer to right as the home team built a 5-0 lead.
  • The Red Dragons tallied their first run in the top of the fifth before R-MC answered in the bottom of the frame. With two out and no one on, senior Reece Yeargain (Chester, Va./Benedictine) had a base hit and stole second. Shawn Nickles was intentionally walked, and senior Cole Grinde (Woodford, Va./Caroline) was unintentionally walked to load the bases. Cortland tried to pick Yeargain off at third, but the throw got away and allowed both Yeargain and Shawn Nickles to score, upping the advantage to 7-1.
  • Cortland added single runs in the sixth and eighth to make it 7-3 before the Yellow Jackets added an insurance run in the eighth. Grinde led off with a double moved to third on a single by Selden. With one away, Evans delivered a sacrifice fly to right to drive in Grinde and make it an 8-3 contest. The Red Dragons would add a run in the top of the ninth to make the final 8-4.

By The Numbers

  • Zobovich (2-0) scattered seven hits and allowed two runs over seven innings with one walk and seven strikeouts. Four leadoff hitters reached against Zubovich and none scored.
  • Evans finished with four RBI, while Shawn Nickles had two RBI and two runs.
  • Cortland scored 18 runs in an earlier game on Saturday vs. Pitt-Bradford and scored multiple runs in each of the first four innings in building a 16-1 advantage. The Red Dragons had no multi-run innings against R-MC.

Up Next

Randolph-Macon will entertain fourth-ranked Cortland again on Sunday on Hugh Stephens Field at Estes Park. The start time has been moved up to 11:30 a.m.