BREVARD, N.C. - The Brevard College baseball team (17-9, 7-2 USA South) fell in the rubber match of a three-game USA South Conference series to NC Wesleyan University (19-6, 8-1 USAS) as the Battling Bishops rallied late to take an 11-9 victory on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Gil Coan Field.
The visitors used a three-run home run in the top of the eighth to retake the lead, 10-8, and then held off a late ninth-inning rally from the Tornados to earn the two-run win.
Logan Clark led Brevard's offense with a perfect day at the dish, going 4-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Lucas Granata totaled two hits, while Zach Allison and Hayden Jennings each scored two runs apiece. Blake Burchett and Luke Morton each tallied two RBIs apiece while Clark, Jennings, and Parker Crews all hit doubles.
Jacob Thompson got the start for the Tornados in the rubber match, going five innings allowing six earned runs on eight hits with a strikeout. Cesar Rodriguez (1-3) was saddled with the loss despite three innings without an earned run, with the difference coming on NCW's eighth-inning three-run homer.
NC Wesleyan was led by Luke Chung who went 3-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs. Jaiden Barker led the team with four RBIs as six Battling Bishops had multi-hit games.
Hunter Hill got the start for NCW and lasted five innings allowing six hits and four earned runs. Dylan Cheeley (3-0) earned the victory after three innings of relief allowing two hits and just one earned run.
The Battling Bishop offense totaled 11 runs on 14 hits while also taking advantage of five costly Brevard errors in the game.
NCW got on the board first after a flyout was mishandled by Brevard in right field, allowing Zach Lyon to score all the way from second base in the top of the first. The visitors tacked on a run in the top of the second inning as Chung doubled to left-center field, making it a 2-0 contest.
An RBI single and fielder's choice RBI with another Tornado error made it a 4-0 ballgame after the top of the third inning. Brevard answered back with a run in the bottom of the frame as Burchett's sacrifice fly scored Jennings.
NC Wesleyan added two more runs in the top of the fourth with an RBI groundout and sacrifice fly to make it a 6-1 affair. Clark took advantage of a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth, scoring all the way from second base to cut the deficit back down to four runs, 6-2.
Chung split the right-center field gap for an RBI triple to push NCW's lead back up to five, 7-2, but Brevard's Morton and Clark hit back-to-back RBI singles to cut the lead back down to three runs, 7-4.
Brevard was able to flip the script in the bottom of the sixth with a patient approach at the plate, as Davis Bryson led off with a walk and advanced to second on a balk. A groundout moved Bryson to third before Parker Crews send a double that was just outside the reach of NCW's first baseman down the line to cut the deficit down to two runs, 7-5.
Jennings walked and Zach Allison was hit by a pitch to load the bases up for Burchett who drew a bases-loaded walk that scored Crews and trimmed the deficit to a one-run margin. After a NC Wesleyan pitching change, Morton and Clark drew consecutive bases-loaded RBI walks as the Tornados took their first lead of the game, 8-7.
The Tornados left them loaded however after a pair of strikeouts ended the rally, as BC held on to a one-run lead.
After a scoreless seventh inning, NC Wesleyan was handed two quick outs in the top of the eighth after a caught stealing and a fly out. However, a single followed up by a very costly Tornado error put runners on first and second with two outs for Barker, who launched a homer to left field that just cleared the wall and flipped momentum again in favor of NC Wesleyan, 10-8.
The Battling Bishops tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly to push the lead to three runs, 11-8. Brevard was able to get a ninth-inning rally going with a Granata leadoff single and Crews walk to start things off. A wild pitch put two runners into scoring position and Jennings drove in Granata on a sacrifice fly to bring the Tornados within two, 11-9. However, a fly out and a looking K sealed the game for NC Wesleyan, who take dope possession of first place in the USA South.
Brevard travels to Fayetteville, North Carolina for a three-game conference series vs. Methodist University beginning Friday, April 7.
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-BC-