Mitchell opens with sweep, Buena Vista opener a hit

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Emory picked up its second win of the 2024 campaign Saturday afternoon, defeating the Mississippi University for Women Owls, 12-2 in seven innings, in Montgomery, Alabama.
Emory athletics photo

 

Mitchell opened the season by sweeping William Peace to give head coach Shawn Gilblair a pair of wins in his collegiate head coaching debut. The Mariners won the opener 8-4 and the nightcap 17-5 in seven innings. Jadon Canellie pitched the final 4.1 innings and scattered five hits, did not walk a batter and fanned five and Mitchell scored four runs in the eighth leading the Mariners to an 8-4 come-from-behind win. Savier Paige had three hits including a pair of doubles to lead the Mariners 12 hit attack. In the nightcap, Galdindez homered to lead off the game and the Mariners scored seven runs in the first and had an eight run fifth inning as the Mariners completed the opening day sweep of the Pacers.

La Grange beat Brevard 5-1 and 10-0 in front of a packed Phil Williamson Stadium. Ethan Fry started on the mound today for the Panthers. In just five innings, Fry threw five strikeouts and only allowed one run on more than 80 pitches. Jack Richards would come in to relieve Fry on the mound. Richards finished with a strikeout and did not allow any runs. Going into game two of the Brevard series, senior Dalton Brooks started on the mound for the Panthers. LC got on the board early and often in support of the Brooks. In the top of the seventh inning, LC brought in closer Evan Jackson. On 27 pitches, Nash Evans finished with two strikeouts and kept Brevard scoreless. The game would end early after the Panthers went up 10-0 in the bottom of the seventh.

Averett defeated Gettysburg College 14-7 in Game 1 and lost 17-11 in Game 2 on Saturday at Owen-Fulton Field. Going into the bottom of the eighth of Game 1, Averett (1-4, 0-0 ODAC) was tied up with Gettysburg (1-1, 0-0 CC) 5-5. Freshman Jack Turner led off with a double into center field. This sparked a rally, the Cougars strung together eight hits with three for extra bases and eight RBI's to allow them to lead the Bullets 14-5. In Game 2, Gettysburg jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first inning. Gettysburg further extended its lead for a 13-7 advantage. Averett managed to bring the deficit within three but were not able to overcome the deficit.

Mount Union opened its 2024 season with a sweep at Guilford in a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday. The Purple Raiders won game one, 3-2, in extra innings and won convincingly, 14-3, in game two. Guilford tied the opener in the bottom of the sixth, forcing extra innings. Mount junior Chris Viamonte scored the game-winning run in the ninth. Junior Zachary Breeden gave up no hits (two runs) in 5.1 innings of work, while striking out four. Junior Brady Hansen earned the win after coming in for relief, only allowing one hit in 3.2 scoreless innings and striking out four. No extra innings were needed in game two with a productive six-run fourth inning by the Raiders. Four Purple Raiders had multi RBIs, led by Vince Armeni, Eric Schilling, and Jaired Lehman who all had three RBIs each.

Centre opened its 2024 campaign in a big way as the Colonels knocked off the Wilmington Quakers by a score of 22-4 in seven innings. Ben Prather tied a school record with eight RBIs on the day as the 2023 SAA Newcomer of the Year went 3-4 at the plate with four runs scored. In addition to Prather, Josh Cunningham, Chase Austin, Michael Lynch and Connor Jackson all finished with multiple hits as the Colonels collected 19 total hits for the afternoon. Luc Morgan got the win as he struck out five in 5.1 innings of work.

Buena Vista had 21 hits, including 11 for extra-bases, and was aided by a big 18-run seventh inning on Saturday to roll past Hamline University, 26-12, in what was the season opener for both teams. Jordan Mathewson delivered his second home run of the game in the fifth to spark a three-run frame for BVU that gave the Beavers a 7-5 advantage. Hamline, however, had an answer in the sixth with three runs of its own to go back on-top 8-7. After Evan Taylor flied out to left to begin the bottom of the seventh, Zack Beekmann tied things at 8-8 with a solo home run which ignited a big inning for BVU. The next eight batters would reach base, including Drew Taylor who tripled and drove in two. Evan Taylor flew out to left for the second time in the inning, but this time resulted in a sacrifice fly for a six-run cushion. The Beavers, however, went on to add 11 two-out runs, including RBI doubles from Beekmann and sophomore Tegan Bock and a two-run single from pinch hitter Zack Saale for his second career base hit. The team ended the inning with 18 runs on 14 hits and took advantage of two Pipers errors. Hamline managed to get four runs back in the top of the eight and BVU added its final run in the home half for the game's final score.

Redlands (5-1) completed the series sweep of LeTourneau on Saturday as Joe Godoy and Nathan Buchan both threw complete games in a 6-3 win in game one and 10-2 in game two at The Yard Saturday. Joe Godoy was able to finish off the complete game one win as he worked around two runs to help the Bulldogs ensure they would at least win the series. Godoy only needed 104 pitches for his complete game as the Bulldog starters have pitched 17 of the innings through the first two games. In the nightcap, Luke De Vries would drive in the game-winning run on a single up the middle in the sixth inning. After another error allowed another run to score, Gabriel Ceja hit a sacrifice fly into right. The final two runs of the sixth where on a single by Ceasar Correa and another throwing error as they went from down 2-1 to leading 8-2. Ceja and Saito each picked up RBI in the seventh and eighth innings as the Bulldogs nearly run-ruled the Yellow Jackets after only scoring one run in five innings.

On a cold day on campus, Covenant hosted North Park for
a doubleheader. The Scots run-ruled the Vikings in the first
game, but dropped game two 9-1.

Covenant athletics photo

No. 2 Salisbury capped a back-and-forth affair on the winning side of a 5-4 decision over the 10th-ranked Cortland Red Dragons on Saturday afternoon at Donnie Williams Sea Gull Baseball Stadium. Cortland tied the game in the top of the eighth but for the third time in the game, the Sea Gulls responded to a Cortland tally with one of their own in the home eighth. Trent Waire walked with two out and Max Ehrhardt reached on an error at short. Mickey Haynes pinch-ran for Waire at second and Ben Anderson worked a pinch-hit walk to load the bases. Haynes then broke for the plate on a wild pitch, sliding in with the go-ahead run to make it 5-4. Shawn Rosemond stayed on the bump for the ninth and worked around a one-out single to put up the final zero.

Washington and Lee used a five run sixth inning to propel the Blue and White to an 8-2 victory over Centenary (N.J.) on Saturday afternoon. After Campbell Charneco and Drew Larsen grounded out to start the bottom of the sixth, Mike Carpetnter blasted a solo home run to left field to put the Generals back on top 3-2. John Turner forced a walk the next at-bat before Nick Lagges roped a double down the left field line to bring home Turner. Andrew Thornton drew the second walk of the inning before an error helped Lagges cross the plate to put the Generals up 5-2. Following a Centenary pitching change, Thornton scored on a failed pick off attempt before Paul Ramseur drove in Satterfield from second on a single down the right field line. Thornton drove in the final run of the game as he singled to right field, bringing home Lagges from second base to give the Blue and White an 8-2 win.

No. 12 Birmingham-Southern capped off opening weekend by splitting a doubleheader. In the first game, the Panthers beat #5 East Texas Baptist University 9-4. The Panthers' bats were hot as they tallied 15 hits. BSC fell in the second game to defending national champions Lynchburg by a score of 10-3. Earlier in the BSC classic East Texas Baptist defeated Milikin 6-5. Three teams of four in the BSC Classic have just one loss. with Lynchburg still to play Milikin on Sunday. Drake LaRoche (1-0) earned the win on the bump for the Panthers. It's the first of his BSC career. Tams Mullins closed the game out, pitching the final 1.2 innings. In the game between BSC and Lynchburg, BSC started the scoring in the bottom of the second and in the fourth, taking 2-1 lead into the fifth. Lynchburg took over the game after that, scoring nine unanswered runs, aided by Panther miscues.

The Augustana Vikings baseball kicked off its 2024 season at the Rhodes Classic on Saturday, defeating the Greenville Panthers by a score of 8-2. The Vikings built a 3-0 lead and added onto their lead in the fifth with another tally, this time seeing an RBI single from Dymitri Kanellakis bring in McGinnis to make it 8-0. The Panthers notched a run in the seventh and eighth innings to inch closer, but Augie closed things down with a three-up, three-down frame in the ninth. Adam Bendoraitis earned the win on the mound for the Vikings, tossing 5.1 scoreless innings and striking out eight. Augie out-hit Greenville 10-7 in the win, led by 2-3 efforts from both Grant Biggins and Kanellakis Green and Aragon also collected two hits apiece.

What's better than a win on Opening Day? TWO wins on Opening Day! That's just what the Maryville Scots did Saturday afternoon, winning both ends of its season-opening doubleheader against Roanoke at Salem Memorial Stadium in Salem, Virginia. The Scots took Game 1 in a big way, outscoring the Maroons 13-5 before sneaking away with another victory in the nightcap, 5-4. Christian Carlton finished the first game with a team-high three hits, including two doubles while coming around to score a team-high three runs. Xavier Resto pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball out of the bullpen in Game 2 of the doubleheader. The Sophomore entered a tie ball game and allowed just two hits while striking out five batters. Resto earned the win for Maryville in the contest. "Our offense showed a great deal of poise in both games," Maryville head coach Clint Helton said. "Hitters kept fighting through at-bats and got us some big innings in Game 1".

Edgewood faced off with the Millsaps Majors in game two of the season and looked for an opportunity to even the three-game series. The Eagles (1-1) held off a Majors (3-2) rally in the late innings to claim a 7-6 victory. Multiple mistakes paved the way for multiple opportunities for the Eagles as the Majors finished with eight errors for the day. Aidan Williams excelled in the start, tossing five innings of scoreless ball with three strikeouts. Nate Bacskai earned the victory, while Jacob Krenn claimed a save.

Pomona-Pitzer took the home opener series over Linfield with an 8-7 win in game one and a 7-4 win in game two for the sweep on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field. In game one, the Sagehens were led by Jimmy Legg who went 2-6 at the plate with five RBIs including a grand slam in the win. JC Ng had a 3-4 game with a run scored and two walks while Kade Morihara also had two hits with two runs scored. Hannoh Seo got the start and the win for the Sagehens after six innings pitched with two runs surrendered and six strikeouts. Eddie Rosemont and Eric Prough appeared in relief roles while Wade Lawson came in for the save. The Sagehens were led by Jack Gold who went 2-4 with four RBI and a run scored in the win. Greg Pierantoni, Jimmy Legg, and Nate Jakobs all had two hits as well while JC Ng, Kade Morihara, and Ben Morgan earned one hit in the final game of the series. Harry Deliyannis got the start but only pitched two innings after being relieved by William Wallace in the third who picked up the win with four innings pitched. Jack Wiessinger came on in the seventh with two innings of relief work while Eric Prough picked up the save in the ninth.

Ivan Delp, Jake Blevins and Sam Safrit combined to toss a shutout on Saturday as the Pfeiffer Falcons blanked the Berry Vikings 1-0 in the season-opener on the road. Ivan Delp (1-0) started and picked up the win for Pfeiffer (1-0), going five shutout innings while giving up three hits, walking four, and striking out three. Blevins was dealing out of the bullpen as well, going three shutout innings, allowing one hit, walking one and striking out one. Ryne Rodrigues led the way offensively for the Falcons, going 2-for-4 in the ballgame with a double and an RBI. C. Acosta compiled a noteworthy performance at the plate as well, going 2-for-3 with a walk. J. Turner also helped out, going 2-for-4 for Pfeiffer. In game two, the Vikings made their mark with a little scare on the way to their big 12-5 victory over the Falcons. A huge fifth inning came for the Vikings with six hits and seven runs to end the momentum for Pfeiffer and capture their everlasting lead. Six singles, two batters hit by a pitch, two batter walked, and three pitchers seen made for a crazy fifth. Jacob Bridges was the first to get on for the Vikings after being hit by a pitch. Singles from Austin Jetmore and Lang pushed Bridges across the plate for the lead (6-5). Joey Garcia knocked in two as he singled through the right side and before the fans knew it the scoreboard sat at 12-5, Vikings. Will Marquart came to the mound for Berry defensively, earning the game win with no more Falcons crossing the plate for the remainder of the game.

Texas Dallas finished its season-opening series with Texas Lutheran on Saturday with a 12-0, seven-inning victory at UTD Baseball Field Saturday. The Comets (3-0) swept the Bulldogs (5-5) with a one-hitter by junior hurler Tobin Oler. He struck out three while walking five with the one hit being a bunt single. Meanwhile, UTD connected on 13 hits, while drawing seven walks and getting hit twice. Oler, making his Comet debut, threw the 12th one-hitter in school history. Luke Finn extended his hitting streak to seven games, dating back to last season, with a pair of hits and two runs scored.

With runners on second and third with no one out in the top of the ninth, senior Clayton Miller struck out the side to preserve the come from behind opening day victory for Washington University. The Bears scored all their runs in the seventh inning to earn the one-run, 3-2, win over Centenary (La.). As a team, the Bear compiled six hits, compared to Centenary's 10. WashU's offense was led by junior Brandon Buday and senior Kaden Bernhard as both outfielders recorded a pair of hits to begin the season. Junior Braden Mazone and graduate student Evan Minarovic each notched a hit. On the mound, first year Parker Guthrie toed the rubber for his first colligate appearance and start. Guthrie, who took a no decision, fired 3.2 innings of work, fanned five, scattered five hits, and allowed two runs. Out of the Bear bullpen, graduate student Matt Lopes logged 4.1 innings of scoreless ball. Lopes, who earned the win on the mound (1-0), gave up just four hits on 63 pitches. Miller registered the save with his trio of strikeouts to secure the win.

DeSales University opened its 2024 season with a
13-9 win at Bridgewater (Va.) on Saturday afternoon.

DeSales athletics photo by Pat Jacoby

Belhaven set the tone early with six early runs in rout to a 9-5 win over Hardin-Simmons on Saturday. The Blazers (3-3) notched their first series sweep of the season with the victory. Belhaven wasted no time scoring runs and held a 9-2 lead heading into the sixth inning. The Cowboys plated three late, but it was not enough as reliever Caleb Menard sealed the sweep with a scoreless ninth inning to give Belhaven the 9-5 win. Kade May (1-1) earned the win, striking out five and allowing just one earned run on six hits in 7.0 innings. Josh Neutze went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Cole Fletcher and Tristan Pearson each collected two hits.

Four no-hit innings from freshman Paul Gaeta followed five shutout innings from senior Colby James, and Oglethorp won the rubber game of a three-game series against Fontbonne 8-0 Saturday afternoon at Hermance Stadium. It was a close affair with much on the line midway through the eighth inning until Oglethorpe ran away with it with six runs in the bottom of the eighth. The Petrels led 2-0 entering the inning, which proved to be all the scoring they would need, but Cooper Krause doubled the lead five pitches into the inning with a first-pitch dinger over the left-field fence, scoring Jonathan Cruz. That made it 4-0, but the Petrels were hardly finished. Sam Mills, who had a big homer Friday night, followed by drawing a walk, then Blair Barnes, another homer-ee Friday, earned first base with a hit-by-pitch. Mason Pearcy then singled to load the bases, and Drew Jabaley followed with a two-RBI single up the middle. This rounded out the scoring as Gaeta sat down Fontbonne in order in the ninth, striking out his last two.

Mary Hardin-Baylor swept a doubleheader, 8-7 and 7-3, against Austin to close the series 3-0 Saturday in Belton. The Cru improved to 3-0 on the season while the Roos fell to 0-3. In game one, the Austin Roos fought back in the top of the eighth, scoring on an RBI single from Ryan Padfield. Exavier Mendez was first on base for UMHB, hitting a single before advancing to third on an error. Ryan Farmer entered to pinch run for Mendez, scoring the equalizer on a Cameron Talburt double. After a walk from Betts, deBerardinis hit an RBI single to score Talburt and seal the 8-7 walk-off victory. In the nightcap, UMHB had an explosive sixth inning, taking the lead with six scored runs. The Cru held the Roos in the seventh inning to just one base runner, securing the 7-3 win.

N.C. Wesleyan bounced back with a huge 8-3 win over Piedmont for its first win in the Piedmont Early Spring Tournament. The Bishops got to work early by going up 1-0 in the second inning with an RBI single from Senior Tyson Bass. The Lions answered fast by putting up a run of their own in the bottom of the third inning. In the fifth inning, Wesleyan regained the lead compliments to another big play from Tyson Bass as he roped a an RBI triple and took a 2-1 lead. The Bishops caught fire in the top of the 7th as the lead was extended to 4-1 thanks to a Collin Scoggins RBI. The top of the ninth inning sealed the ballgame for the Battling Bishops as the lead grew 8-2 courtesy of a couple of errors, some walks, and big-time RBI hits coming from senior Davie Morgan and Freshman Jackson Ellyson. The Bishop's pitching showed more flashes of dominance today as starting pitcher Cord Butler shut out the Piedmont batters throughout the first five frames of the game while a handful of Lion batters fell victim to his lethal strikeout. Graduate student and Senior Chandler Padgett and Cullen Davis stifled any chance of a Lion comeback out of the Bishop bullpen. The duo allowed two hits, striking out five in four innings of work.

Nationally-ranked Christopher Newport earned a doubleheader sweep against Southern Virginia (0-2) on Saturday afternoon courtesy of an offensive explosion in game one, 18-3, and a come-from-behind effort in game two, 9-5. CNU improved to 3-0 with the performance coming on a blustery, chilly day at Captains Park.  The offense was led by the top three hitters in the lineup as each collected four hits in the two-game set. Ayden Stuffel was 4-for-7 with 6 runs scored and an RBI while setting the table for the Captains and hitting in the two hole, sophomore shortstop Josh Reinhold finished 4-for-9 with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. Hitting third, senior designated hitter Zach Dzarnowski was 4-for-7 with 5 RBI and 3 runs scored. Reinhold reached base in both games, extending his NCAA Division III record of consecutive games reaching base to start a collegiate career. He wasted no time, reaching in each of his first plate appearances as the second-year star has now reached base safely in all 45 games he has played at Christopher Newport.