EMORY, Va. - The Emory & Henry College Baseball Team (10-18, 8-6 ODAC) earned a pair of Old Dominion Athletic Conference wins over Virginia Wesleyan College (5-19, 1-10 ODAC), Saturday afternoon at Porterfield/DeVault Field. The Wasps defeated the Marlins by scores of 9-4 and 12-11 on the day.
Game One - Emory & Henry 9, Virginia Wesleyan 4
The Wasps took advantage of a four-run fourth inning en route to defeating the Marlins in game one, 9-4. E&H pounded out 17 hits, including senior right fielder Remington Hedgepeth (Winston-Salem, N.C.) going three-for-five with four RBI while senior catcher Collin Metz (Cape Coral, Fla.) was three-for-four with three runs scored.
Emory & Henry broke open a 3-2 game in the bottom of the fourth inning with four runs thanks to a two-RBI single by Hedgepeth to take a 7-2 lead. VWC would plate two runs in the seventh to close the gap to 8-4, but the Wasps got an insurance run on a single by senior designated hitter Jesse Blizzard (Independence, Va.) in the bottom of the eighth frame.
Senior Zach Jones (Fries, Va.) picked up the win in seven innings of work for the Wasps, allowing just four runs on seven hits with two strikeouts. Junior Will Dingus (Powhatan, Va.) earned his fourth save of the year in two shutout innings of work. Virginia Wesleyan's Alex Tucci took the loss in just three innings pitched.
Game Two - Emory & Henry 12, Virginia Wesleyan 11
The Marlins got out to a 7-0 lead after five innings of play thanks to a six-run fifth inning. A two-run double by Anthony Siracusa highlighted the frame. E&H got on the board with a run in the bottom of the fifth.
Virginia Wesleyan added two runs in the sixth to go up 9-1 before the Emory & Henry offense reeled off eight runs with two outs in the bottom of the stanza. Senior left fielder Brandon Lucas (Riner, Va.) had a three-RBI triple and junior first baseman Logan Ball (Honaker, Va.) plated two runs with a double to highlight the inning.
The two squads traded runs until the score was tied 11-11 going into the bottom of the ninth. Lucas singled to left field to start things off and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Sophomore Ricky Sowers (Blacksburg, Va.) singled to left centerfield to score Lucas from second and win the contest for E&H.
Sowers also picked up the win in relief for the Wasps, pitching the final four outs in perfect fashion. Junior Jessup Lambert (Fries, Va.) went 5.2 innings in the start with the no decision. Virginia Wesleyan's Siracusa took the loss, allowing three earned runs on five hits in 2.2 innings despite striking out five.
At the plate for Emory & Henry, Sowers went five-for-eight on the day with three runs scored and Hedgepeth was six-for-10 with five RBI. Ball went five-for-10 while Metz and senior Josh McMillian (Ameila, Va.) were each four-for-eight.
Matt Ittner led the Marlins offensively, going five for seven with three runs scored. Siracusa was three-for-eight at the plate with five RBI while Pike Brynildsen was three-for-nine with four runs.
Emory & Henry will travel to Milligan College on Tuesday to face the Buffaloes in non-conference action. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.
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