Marlins Stay in First with Sweep of Lynchburg
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.-- The Virginia Wesleyan College baseball team maintained the first place position in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) standings with a pair of wins over Lynchburg College on Saturday afternoon. The Marlins took the first game 9-4 before holding on for an 8-6 victory in game two.
Game 1: 9-4 Virginia Wesleyan Victory
Both teams posted zeros in the first two innings before the Marlins could touch up Lynchburg starter David Goulding in the bottom of the third.
David Kennedy led off the inning with a single up the middle, followed by a Corey King single through the left side. Two outs later, Lynchburg was on the verge of escaping unscathed, but Brandon Kussmaul singled to center to score Kennedy. Taylor Erby followed with a single to left that scored King for the 2-0 lead.
Joe Bobiak gave up a lone run in the fourth on a Jonathan Munn RBI single, but would not allow another run in his five innings of work.
Lynchburg took the lead in the top of the sixth as Munn drove in his second RBI of the game, tying the contest at two on his run-scoring double. Matt Ward chased Munn home with an RBI single to center.
The Marlins put the game away in the seventh and eighth, scoring seven runs in the two frames.
Matt Murray, David Derenske, and Kussmaul each drove in a run in the seventh while King connected for a two-RBI single in the eighth. Justin Erby had an RBI base knock in both innings to lead the Marlin charge.
Nick Ott (3-0) earned the win with three innings of work out of the bullpen, allowing just one unearned run on one hit.
Ward finished with three hits for Lynchburg while Munn produced two RBI.
Kussmaul had three hits and two RBI for VWC as Justin Erby and King each drove in two runs.
Game 2: 8-6 Virginia Wesleyan Victory
Virginia Wesleyan jumped out quickly with a 7-2 lead in the fifth inning before Lynchburg made it close with three runs in the eighth.
The Marlins, already lead 1-0, produced an exciting second inning to extend their lead. With one out and the bases loaded, King put the ball in play to score Murray as the Hornets committed a costly error. Justin Erby followed King with a deep drive to left-center that scored King and Kennedy, but was thrown out trying to stretch a triple into an inside-the-park homerun.
Taylor Erby accomplished the rare feat for his brother in the bottom of the fifth with the Marlins leading 4-2. Virginia Wesleyan had runners on first and third when Taylor Erby connected on a ball, placing it near where his brother went in the second. Taylor raced around third, sliding in safely for the hustle homerun and a 7-2 lead.
Lynchburg cut into the deficit by one in the top of the sixth, but neither team would find the run column again until the top of the eighth when Lynchburg scored three on a two-RBI double by Nathan Sharp and a Drew Taylor sacrifice fly. Riley Koonce entered from the bullpen with the Marlins clinging to a one-run lead and shut the door on the Hornets.
Sharp went 4-for-4 with four RBI for Lynchburg (7-18/3-7) while Joe Tomasulo collected three hits.
Kennedy had three hits for the Marlins as Taylor Erby drove in three. Luke Chiasson (2-1) got the win after throwing 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball. Koonce picked up his third save of the year.
Virginia Wesleyan (13-6/7-2) hosts Tufts University (6-3) Sunday at 1 p.m.