February 22, 2020

Offense Rolls for #20 R-MC Baseball in DH Sweep of AU

Batting

Alvernia
2B: none
3B: K. Newton
HR: none
Randolph-Macon
2B: Ryan Duphorn 2; Mike Nickles 2; Reece Yeargain; Cole Grinde; Spencer Pietruszynski
3B: none
HR: Zach Evans
full stats

ASHLAND, Va. – The No. 20 Randolph-Macon baseball team had 30 hits and 28 runs on the day in a doubleheader sweep of Alvernia on Saturday afternoon.

The Basics

Score: #20 Randolph-Macon 11-17, Alvernia 4-0

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

Records: R-MC 6-1, Alvernia 0-4

How It Happened: Game 1

  • After the Golden Wolves tallied single runs in each of the first two innings, R-MC responded in the in the bottom of the fourth. After the first 10 Yellow Jackets had been retired in order, freshman Ricky Gannett (Newark, Del./St. Mark's) reached on an error and moved to second on a walk to senior Mike Nickles (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge). Senior Reece Yeargain (Chester, Va./Benedictine) hit a long single to center to load the bases. Senior Shawn Nickles (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) lined a single into the right field corner to plate Gannett and Mike Nickles and tie the game at 2-2.
  • AU responded with two in the top of the fifth before the Yellow Jackets answered an inning later. With two away, Shawn Nickles went the other way with a single to left. Senior Cole Grinde (Woodford, Va./Caroline) hit a long fly that hit off the center fielder's glove, allowing Shawn Nickles to score and pull R-MC within one. Sophomore Spencer Pietruszynski (Williamsburg, Va./Jamestown) singled up the middle to drive in Grinde and level the score at 4-4.
  • R-MC exploded to six in the seventh. Gannett had a bases-clearing double to snap the tie, and Grinde had a two-run homer to cap the rally.
  • The Yellow Jackets added a run in the eighth as junior Jacob Selden (Lynchburg, Va./E.C. Glass) drew a leadoff walk and freshman pinch-runner Brooks Mazey (Glen Allen, Va./Deep Run) came home on a wild pitch to make the final 11-4.

By The Numbers

  • Shawn Nickles went 2 for 4 with two runs and three RBI, while Gannett drove in three and scored twice. Grinde had two runs and two RBI.
  • Freshman Cam Furman (Midlothian, Va./Midlothian) earned the win in relief, tossing two perfect innings with two strikeouts. Sophomore Jacob Smither (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) and freshman Ray Byrum (Suffolk, Va./Windsor) both tossed scoreless innings.

How It Happened: Game 2

  • The Yellow Jackets started the scoring in the first of the nightcap. Senior Ryan Duphorn (Erial, N.J./Paul VI) had a leadoff double, stole third and came home on a double by Mike Nickles. Mike Nickles would move to third on a base hit by Yeargain. Nickles was picked off third but beat the throw home for a stolen base to make it 2-0. Yeargain stole second and scored on a single Grinde to give the home team a 3-0 advantage.
  • Pietruszynski had a leadoff walk in the second and senior Zach Evans (Fort Mill, S.C./Seneca) belted his second home of the season to give R-MC a 5-0 lead.
  • Yeargain had a leadoff double in the third and Shawn Nickles walked. After a wild pitch, both scored on a double to right by Grinde as the Yellow Jackets went up 7-0. A two-run double by Duphorn expanded the lead to 9-0.
  • Shawn Nickles, freshman Ethan Iannuzzi (Chesterfield, Va./Cosby) and senior Daniel Wilkerson (Oxford, N.C./Kerr-Vance Academy) each had RBI singles in the fourth as the advantage grew to 12-0.
  • Sophomore JT Fitzpatrick (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) had a run-scoring base hit and Iannuzzi added a two-run single in the fifth to push the score to 15-0.
  • In the sixth, Duphorn singled and scored on a bases-loaded walk by senior Mitch Mendler (McLean, Va./Flint Hill), and freshman Brooks Mazey (Glen Allen, Va./Deep Run) singled and came home on a fielder's choice by junior Jack Basse (Fairfax Station, Va./South County) to make the final 17-0.
  • The game was called in the middle of the seventh due to darkness.

By The Numbers

  • Duphorn went 3 for 5 with two runs and two RBI. Yeargain had two hits and three runs. Grinde and Iannuzzi had two hits and three RBI.
  • Mazey and Iannuzzi both had their first collegiate hits.
  • Senior Matt Nickles (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) earned his first win of the season, going five innings with one hit, two walks and 10 strikeouts. Junior RJ Payne (Barboursville, Va./William Monroe) walked one and fanned one in a scoreless sixth. Freshman Nick Kreider (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown Area) struck out two in a perfect seventh.

Up Next

Randolph-Macon will host Penn State Harrisburg on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 2:30 p.m. on Hugh Stephens Field at Estes Park.