Posted: Mar 03, 2018
The Basics
Game 1
Score: No. 16 Roanoke 13, Muhlenberg 3
Records: Roanoke 5-3 | Muhlenberg 3-1
Location: Blacksburg, Va. | Virginia Tech
The Lead: Roanoke used 14 hits and three big innings to score a 13-3 win over Muhlenberg in game one of the doubleheader.
How it Happened
- Roanoke struck for four runs in the third inning when Dean Hermanson doubled with one out. With two outs, Sean Guida doubled Hermanson home to make it a 1-0 game. Scott Ellis followed with a single to score Guida before he would come home on a double off the bat of Will Merriken to make it 3-0. Jack Howard capped the scoring with a double of his own to score Merriken and push the RC lead to 4-0.
- Muhlenberg cut the RC lead in half in the fourth inning after getting RBI singles from Sam Arnold and John Serruto to make it a 4-2 game.
- The score stayed that way until the bottom half of the seventh inning when Eli Sumpter doubled to open the inning, advanced to third on a Guida single and scored on a throwing error by pitcher Alec Andrews on a pickoff attempt of Guida.
- Following back-to-back walks by Ellis and Merriken to load the bases, Jack Howard drew a free pass to bring home Guida and make it 6-2. A Will Salva sacrifice fly plated Ellis and a two-out RBI single from Gavin Kandrick scored Howard and Merriken to push the RC lead to 9-2.
- With the score 9-3, RC tacked on four more runs in the eighth inning, highlighted by an RBI single from Salva and a triple by Sam Watson which scored a pair.
- Four Maroon pitchers combined to allow just six hits in the win. Matthew Franklin got the start and went three innings, giving up two runs on two hits. Ethan Delahunty (1-0) picked up the win in relief after going 3.2 innings, surrendering just one hit and one run, while striking out three.
- RJ Hennessey was saddled with the loss for Muhlenberg after giving up four runs in six innings of work.
- Guida finished with three hits and three runs scored for RC, while Merriken, Salva and Watson each had two hits.
Game 2
Score: No. 16 Roanoke 12, Muhlenberg 4
Records: Roanoke 6-3 | Muhlenberg 3-2
Location: Blacksburg, Va. | Virginia Tech
The Lead: The Maroons capped the sweep of the doubleheader by taking a 12-4 win over the Mules in game two.
How it Happened
- With Muhlenberg up 1-0 in the home-half of the third inning, Merriken singled with two outs and scored on a Howard triple to tie the game.
- In the fourth inning, Robbie Edwards and Sumpter opened the inning with back-to-back singles and would each score when Guida homered with two outs to put RC in front 4-1.
- In the Roanoke's fifth inning, the Maroons got an RBI single by Sumpter that scored Howard before Hermanson followed with a single to plate Edwards.
- Later that same inning, Will Smith delivered a single that scored both Sumpter and Hermanson and made it an 8-1 game.
- After Muhlenberg came back in its next at bat and scored three times to cut the Maroons lead to 8-4, RC answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Howard walked to start the inning, moved to third base on a Salva double and came home on an Edwards single. Two batters later, Hermanson singled to score Salva to give RC a 10-4 lead.
- Roanoke would score a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to cap the scoring.
- Ben West (1-1) got the start and went 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, while striking out three. Matt Henderlite, Vinnie Leo and Kenny Mackovic came out of the bullpen and held Muhlenberg to just one hit after West exited in the sixth inning.
- Timmy Pilrun went 4.1 innings for the Mules, giving up 12 hits and eight runs, dropping his record to 0-1 on the season.
- Edwards finished with three hits for the Maroons, while Guida, Howard, Hermanson and Smith each had two hits in the win.
Up Next: The two teams will close out their three-game series on Sunday at Noon in Salem at Kiwanis Field.