EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Baseball Team (9-28) defeated Southwest Virginia rival the University of Virginia's College at Wise (13-23) on Wednesday afternoon. The game which was played between two South Atlantic Conference teams was played as a non-conference game. The Wasps bested the Cavaliers for a dominant 14-2 win.
The Basics
FINAL SCORE – Emory & Henry 14, UVA Wise 2
LOCATION – Emory, Virginia
VENUE – Porterfield-DeVault Field
RECORDS – Emory & Henry (9-28, 2-13 SAC); UVA Wise (13-23, 3-12 SAC)
How It Happened
The two teams were held off of the scoreboard through the first two innings but the Wasps broke through in the home half of the third. Junior outfielder Matt Hill (Pineville, N.C.) drew a lead-off walk, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a triple down the rightfield line from junior third baseman Jared Foley (Sparta, N.C.) to give the Wasps the 1-0 lead. Junior first baseman McCray Sawyers (Stuart, Va.) followed up with a two-out RBI double into the right center gap to increase the E&H advantage to 2-0.
The Cavaliers got one back in the top of the fourth on an RBI double off the bat of Jeb Hurst to cut the E&H lead in half at 2-1.
E&H added another run in the bottom of the fifth. Senior outfielder Tyler Bradley (Bessemer City, N.C.) drew another lead-off walk, advanced to third on a single from freshman catcher Garrison Bullock (Concord, N.C.) and crossed the plate on junior designated hitter Lane Gay's (Keedysville, Md.) RBI single to push the Wasps' lead back out to 3-1. Wise responded in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI fielder's choice from Tyler Gorbett to trim their deficit back to 3-2.
Junior Kolby Anderson (King William, Va.) and Hill drew two more lead-off walks to start the sixth inning and each moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by Foley. Junior outfielder Wayne Mize (Salisbury, N.C.) cleared the bases with his team-leading eighth long ball of the season to put E&H ahead by a 6-2 margin. The Wasps tacked on another pair of runs in the home half of the seventh on an RBI single by Hill followed by a double steal that saw Hill take second and junior second baseman Triston Hensley (Covington, Va.) swipe home to run the Wasps' lead to 8-2.
Bradley doubled to center to lead off the eighth and came around to score on a single from Mize to increase his RBI total to four for the afternoon and give E&H the 9-2 advantage. Anderson was plunked with a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in another run and Hill blew the game open with a grand slam to left to give the Wasps a commanding 14-2 lead.
Junior right-handed pitcher Hunter Kirkpatrick (Albany, Ore.) had his best appearance in a Wasp uniform as he allowed just one run on two hits while fanning a pair of batters over 4.2 innings of work in earning the victory. Micah Hill took the loss for the Cavaliers as he surrendered two hits, two runs and two bases on balls in just 0.2 innings. Senior righty Zach Clover (Cary, N.C.) also threw a solid 3.1 innings, scattering two hits and one run while striking out three Cavalier batters. Hill led the Wasps' offensive attack with five RBI on the afternoon. Mize added four runs driven in of his own.
Up Next
Emory & Henry makes the trip to the mountains of North Carolina this weekend for a three-game South Atlantic Conference series against the Lions of Mars Hill University. First pitch of Friday's game one is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
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