BREVARD, N.C. – The Brevard College baseball team (10-5) scored nine unanswered runs and shut out Case Western Reserve University (3-5) over the final five innings to complete a 10-5 comeback victory against the Spartans on Thursday at Gil Coan Field.
The Tornados posted a run each in the fourth and fifth innings before scoring three in the bottom of the sixth to take a 6-5 advantage. Brevard then broke things open in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring four insurance runs to help wrap up the five-run victory.
Logan Clark, an outfielder from St. Petersburg, Florida, went 2-for-4 with two runs, including a three-RBI triple to help seal the win for the Tornados. The three-bagger marked the eighth of the sophomore's career to make Clark the school's career triples leader in the NCAA era. Clark was also a force on the base paths for Brevard, stealing a career-high three bases in the win.
Jack Atkinson continued his hot stretch at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Cale Oehler logged a double as part of a three-hit performance. Blake Burchett doubled, while Tristan Robinson and Frankie Vasquez also totaled RBIs.
Noah Webb (1-0) earned his first collegiate victory after a stellar performance in relief, hurling three innings of three-hit, shutout ball. Ethan Coleman came on and logged a scoreless performance in one and two-thirds innings, while Cameron Cook pitched a flawless ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts.
Case Western Reserve was paced by a two-hit performance from Nick Talarico, while Zack Carinci and Tre Armstrong each tallied doubles.
Armstrong got things going early for the Spartans in the top of the first with a two-RBI double that plated Talarico and Carinci to give CWRU the early lead, 2-0. Brevard answered back in the bottom of the frame, cashing in a Zach Allison leadoff walk to cut the early deficit to a 2-1 margin.
Both teams traded scoreless frames in the second before Case Western Reserve added a run on an RBI single, making it a 3-1 affair. The Spartans grew their advantage in the top of the fourth with a one-out, two-RBI single making the score 5-1 in favor of the visitors.
Brevard's bats began to come alive in the bottom of the fifth, as Burchett drilled an RBI double that plated Atkinson, chipping into the Spartan lead, 5-2. Brevard then put together a rally in the bottom of the sixth, as Vasquez came across on a CWRU error before Robinson, sacrifice fly made it a 5-4 ballgame. Atkinson then stroked a single into center field to score Kenneth Pridmore, tying things up at five apiece.
The Spartans had a rally going in the top of the seventh, with runners on the corners and one out. However, Coleman came on in relief and got a groundball double play, 6-4-3, to halt the scoring threat.
Brevard looked to add insurance to its lead in the bottom of the seventh, but stranded runners on second and third. The Tornados would not be denied in the bottom of the eighth though, as Brevard loaded the bases with two outs before Clark's record-breaking, three-RBI triple made it a 9-5 game. Vasquez' bunt RBI single made it a 10-5 game before Cook came in and closed the door on the Case Western Reserve Spartans, who recently received votes in the D3baseball.com National Top 25 Poll.
Brevard will return to action with a series in Misenheimer, North Carolina this weekend against Pfeiffer University on Saturday and Sunday.
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-BC-