EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Baseball Team (5-13, 3-3 ODAC) split a pair of Old Dominion Athletic Conference contests with visiting Hampden-Sydney College (7-12, 2-2 ODAC) Saturday afternoon at Porterfield/Devault Field. The Wasps picked up the 10-6 win in game one thanks to an eight-run seventh inning while the Tigers profited from strong pitching in game two to get the 6-0 shutout.
Game One – Emory & Henry 10, Hampden-Sydney 6
The Tigers got out to a 3-0 lead in the game one thanks to a run in the second inning on an error by the pitcher on a pickoff throw to first base and a two-run double in the fourth by Zeb Cope.
Emory & Henry got on the board in the bottom half of the fourth. With two runners on and one out, an attempted double play was broken up at second base by senior catcher Collin Metz (Cape Coral, Fla.) allowing sophomore shortstop Ricky Sowers (Blacksburg, Va.) to score from third.
Hampden-Sydney added two runs in the top of the sixth to make it a 5-1 game. With two on and one out, Christian Hamlett doubled down the left field line, plating both runners.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Wasps came alive with their most productive inning of the season. E&H scored eight runs on six hits, two walks a hit batsman and an error. A double to left field by senior second baseman Josh McMillian (Amelia, Va.) scored two runs to highlight the inning as sophomore first baseman Michael Myers (Covington, Va.) had a RBI double in the frame as well.
Hampden-Sydney attempted to rally in the top of the eighth, but could only muster one run. A RBI groundout by Erick Herrman, scored Patrick Kuhns, who walked to lead off the stanza.
The Wasps got a final run in the bottom of the eighth to make the final score 10-6. A passed ball on a strikeout, which would have been the second out of the inning put senior left fielder Brandon Lucas (Fries, Va.) on first base. After a groundout by McMillian, a single down the right field line by Sowers drove in Lucas.
Freshman Colby Gardner (Kingsport, Tenn.) got the win on the mound for E&H to move to 2-0 on the year. He pitched one no-hit inning in the seventh before the Wasps went on their tear at the plate. Junior Will Dingus (Powhatan, Va.) was credited with his third save of the year, allowing one run and one hit with two strikeouts in the final two innings of the game.
Game Two – Hampden-Sydney 6, Emory & Henry 0
Hampden-Sydney opened up a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning on a RBI single to right field by Hunter Lewis. The Tigers added a run in the fourth to go up 2-0 as Beau Flinchum scored on a wild pitch.
H-SC got another score in the top of the eighth frame with Flinchum driving in a run on a fielder's choice ground ball to second base.
In the top of the ninth, the Tigers put up three insurance runs to extend the lead to 6-0. With two on and two out, Jeff Gray doubled to left field, clearing the bases, advancing to third on the throw home. Herrmann knocked a double of his own, driving in Gray to put the contest out of reach.
On the hill, Zach Whitaker picked up the complete game win for Hampden-Sydney, scattering seven hits and four strikeouts over the shutout performance. E&H junior Jessup Lambert (Fries, Va.) went the distance in the loss, allowing five earned runs on 12 hits with two strikeouts.
At the plate for E&H, McMillian was three-for-eight on the day with two doubles and two RBI while Metz went three-for-eight as well. Sowers was two-for-six with three walks and two runs scored. For the Tigers, Gray went four-for-seven with two doubles and two RBI while Cope was four-for-eight with two RBI and two runs scored. Flinchum finished the day three-for-nine with three runs.
Emory & Henry will remain at home on Tuesday when it will face off against Roanoke College in a single ODAC game. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
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