LEXINGTON, Va. - The Washington and Lee University baseball team scored 24 runs to secure a two game sweep over Averett University on Sunday to improve to 3-1 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play and 7-5 on the season.
GAME ONE | W&L 8, AU 7
- Averett (3-13, 0-2 ODAC) got on the board first as Preston Robbins led off the top of the fourth with a double down the left field line before Luke Harris drove him in on an RBI single to left field.
- The Generals (7-5, 3-1 ODAC) responded in the bottom half of the inning as Jacob Jacksonand Jonathan French both reached base on singles. Both runners came around to score as Ethan Zulueta reached first on an error by the Cougar's third baseman.
- After a Paul Ramseur drew a walk, Nick Lagges roped a two-RBI triple to right field to give the Generals a 4-1 lead. Lagges would come around to score as Drew Larsen found a gap in the right side of the infield to put W&L up by five.
- The next at-bat, Campbell Charneco would reach first on an error by the shortstop before Andrew Thornton found the right center field gap to drive in two more runs to put the Blue and White up 7-1.
- French led off the 5th inning with a bunt before stealing second and third to put himself in scoring position. Zulueta would drive him in with an RBI double down the left field line to score W&L's final run of the game.
- The Cougars' offense came alive in the top of the 7th inning as they scored three runs to cut the deficit to two. Brandt Brophy drove in Kevin Zishcke on a sacrifice fly before Mason Williams scored on a wild pitch and Harris drove in Robbins on a single to left field.
- Zischke blasted a home run to left field in the eighth inning to bring the score to 8-7 in favor of the Generals but Brody Pasieka struck out two batters in the bottom of the ninth to earn the save and give the Blue and White their sixth win of the season.
GAME TWO | W&L 16, AU 7
- The Generals' offense wanted no time in game two as Lagges and Larsen got on base with singles before Charneco belted a deep shot to left field to give the Blue and White a 3-0 lead.
- After a successful double steal, Mike Carpenter came around to score as French beat on an infield single. Thornton would come around to score as French forced an error on his steal attempt before Zulueta drove him on a single to right field.
- The Cougars would cut the deficit in half as they rattled off three runs in the top of the 3rd inning. Averett had the bases loaded after a walk and two singles before Brophy drove Grider with an infield single. The next at-bat, Robbins' hit ricocheted off third base and fell into left field, driving in Brophy and Williams to bring the score to 6-3.
- Gavin Colwell led off the 4th inning with a triple to center field before David Skinner drove him in on a sacrifice fly to right field.
- The Blue and White extended their lead to seven in the bottom of the 4th with five runs on four hits. Lagges led off the inning with a double before Larsen reached on an error by the left fielder. Charneco blasted his second three-run homer of the game, putting the Generals up 9-4.
- Thornton followed up the home run with a double to left center field before scoring on a Zulueta single to left field. Mason Satterfield would drive in French to plate the Generals 11th run of the game on a sacrifice fly to center field.
- W&L would plate three more runs in the 5th inning as Lagges came around to score on a sacrifice fly following a lead off single. French would drive in two more runs as his single up the middle drove in Carpenter and Larsen, giving the Generals a 14-4 lead.
- Trevor Testerman roped a two-RBI triple to right center field before scoring on a wild pitch to cut the Generals lead to seven in the 7th inning.
- After Charneco doubled to left field, he would come around to score on a wild pitch to give the Blue and White a eight run lead. French drew a walk before plating the Generals final run of the game on a Zulueta single through the left side of the infield.
- Sims DeLong closed out the game in the 9th inning, forcing a ground out and a line out before striking out Brophy to secure the sweep.
W&L GAME NOTES
- The Blue and White moved to 7-5 overall and 3-1 in ODAC play while notching their 13th-straight win over the Cougars. The Generals have not lost to Averett since opening day in 2018 when they fell in game two of a double header 11-7.
- Evan Blair (2-1) picked up his second win of the season with a quality start in game one. Blair tossed six innings, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out seven batters. John Benner (1-1) earned his first win of the season in game two, allowing 7 runs (four earned) on seven hits while striking out five batters in his 6.2 innings of action.
- Brody Pasieka earned his second save of the season as he allowed one run on one hit while striking out three Cougars in two innings of action. Cooper Charneco, Sims DeLong and Ashwin Suresh combined for 3.1 innings of work, allowing no runs on two hits. The trio tallied four strikeouts across both games.
- Jonathan French led the offense with a 6-for-7 (.857) effort at the plate with two RBI and five runs scored while a team-high drawing two walks. Ethan Zulueta hit .714 (5-for-7) this afternoon with a double while driving in four runs. Campbell Charneco was 5-for-10 (.500) with a double, two home runs and a team-high seven RBI.
- French led all players with five stolen bases in the afternoon while Mike Carpenter swiped two bags. The Blue and White stole 13 bags
AVERETT GAME NOTES
- The Cougars fell to 3-13 on the season and 0-2 in conference play.
- Preston Robbins led the Cougars offense with a 6-for-9 (.667) with two doubles and four RBI.
- Tim Schware (1-2) earned the loss in game one, giving up four runs (zero earned) on five hits while striking out two batters. Nathan Comer (0-3) earned his third loss of the season as he allowed six runs on six hits in 0.1 innings of work.
UP NEXT
- The Generals are back in action on Tuesday, Mar. 12 as they host Hamilton College at 3:30 p.m. at Cap'n Dick Smith Field.