Roanoke Advances to ODAC Championship Before Falling to Shenandoah

Meneses

The Basics
ODAC Tournament Championship
Score: No. 4 Shenandoah 8 | No. 3 Roanoke 4 (10 innings)
Records: Roanoke 31-11 | Shenandoah 34-10
Location: Lynchburg, Va.

The Lead: Shenandoah scored four runs in the top of the 10th inning as Roanoke fell to the Hornets 8-4 in a 10-inning ODAC Championship battle. 

How it Happened:

  • The Hornets strung together three straight singles with two outs to take an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with the RBI coming from Chase Smallwood.
  • After three scoreless innings, SU extended the lead with a three-run fifth inning kicked off by a leadoff single from Henry Delavergne and capped by an RBI sacrifice fly from Smallwood to make it a 4-0 game.
  • Jack Howard, Gavin Kandrick, and Dean Hermanson all recorded singles to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth before Cody Shell hit a double down the left field line to score Howard and Kandrick to make it 4-2. Will Smith then brought in Hermanson with an RBI groundout.
  • RC tied it when Sean Guida hit a two-out single to plate Shell and tie the game at 4-4.
  • Roanoke allowed only one hit in the next three innings to leave it 4-4 at the end of nine complete.
  • Shenandoah used a leadoff homer from Keegan Woolford to start the 10th inning and take a 5-4 advantage. SU continued the inning with a pair of singles, a walk and a sacrifice fly to close out the scoring at 8-4.
  • For SU, Christian Rice went 3-for-5 while Smallwood and Woolford each had two RBI.
  • For Roanoke, Eli Sumpter and Shell both went 3-for-5.
  • Roanoke finishes the season with a 31-11 record which is the second most wins in school history.

2018 ODAC Baseball All-Tournament Team

P: Michael Bugonowicz, SU
P: Diego Meneses, RC
C: Chase Smallwood, SU
IF: Dean Hermanson, RC
IF: Jack Howard, RC
IF: Robbie Marcelle, SU
IF: Luke Nussman, SU
OF: Nick Goode, SU
OF: Sean Guida, RC
OF: Cole Migliorini, R-MC
DH: Keegan Woolford SU
UT: Jacob Pilarski, VWU
MOP: Tristan Baker, 2B, SU

The Basics
ODAC Tournament 
Score: No. 3 Roanoke 3 | No. 2 Virginia Wesleyan 2 (13 innings)
Records: Roanoke 31-11 | Virginia Wesleyan 28-14
Location: Lynchburg, Va. 

The Lead: Dean Hermanson drove in the winning run in the top of the 13th inning as Roanoke defeated Virginia Wesleyan to advance to the Championship round.

How it Happened: 

  • With the score 2-2 in the top of the 13th, Will Merriken drew a one-out walk followed by a two-out single from Scott Ellis to move Merriken to second. Dean Hermanson then hit a single to right field scoring Merriken for what proved to be the game-winning run.
  • Diego Meneses struck out the side in the bottom of the 13th to secure the win and send RC to the championship round.
  • After four scoreless innings, both teams scored a run in the fifth as Will Salva led off with a single and moved to third on a double from Hermanson in the next at-bat. Sean Guida drove in Salva with a groundout to give RC a 1-0 lead.
  • Virginia Wesleyan evened the game in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI double from Brandon Kussmaul to make it 1-1.
  • The Marlins had runners in scoring positions in 10th, 11th and 12th innings but the Maroons got out of two bases-loaded situations to keep the game knotted at 2-2 headed into the 13th.
  • Guida and Hermanson both recorded two hits in the contest while Guida had a team-high two RBI. With the pair of hits, Guida reached the 200 career hit mark for his career.
  • Six Maroon pitchers combined to allow only eight hits with Sal Trancucci allowing no runs and two hits while striking out four in four innings of work. Fletcher Mazzola (5-1) picked up with win after getting the final out of the 12th inning. Meneses earned the save, striking out three straight in the final inning.
  • For the Marlins, Kussmaul went 3-for-5 and Jacob Pilarski went 2-for-7. Adam Brooks was tabbed with the loss giving up one run off two hits.