Roanoke posted wins over (R/V) Piedmont and No. 25 Christopher Newport on Saturday
Posted: Feb 15, 2020
The Basics
Score: Roanoke 14, (R/V) Piedmont 2
Records: Roanoke 3-1 | Piedmont 0-3
Location: Newport News, Va.
The Lead: In the first game of the day, Roanoke collected 16 hits on its way to a 14-2 win over Piedmont at Christopher Newport.
How it Happened
- Roanoke's Luke Estep doubled with one out in the second inning and came around to score on a Mason Staz two-outs single to make it 1-0.
- Staz stole second and then was driven in by Hunter Andrews with a single to double the RC lead to 2-0.
- In the Roanoke third inning, Will Merriken walked to start the inning, moved to second on a wild pitch and went to third after Will Salva struck out but reached on error by the Lions. Both runners came around to score on a Gavin Kandrick single that would make it a 4-0 contest.
- Later in the inning, Staz laid down a bunt that plated Kandrick to extend the RC lead to 5-0.
- With the score 5-1 Maroons in the bottom of the fifth inning, RC loaded the bases before Andrews singled to score Will Smith and Sam Watson to make it a 7-1 game.
- Conner Butler followed with a single of his own that scored Staz and pushed the lead to 8-1.
- The score was 8-2 in the bottom of the eighth when Roanoke got six runs fueled by RBI singles by Salva, Kandrick, Watson, Staz and a bases loaded walk drawn by Smith.
- Evan Parks started and went the first five innings for Roanoke. He allowed three hits and one run to improve to 1-0 on the year. Chris Dudley went the final four innings and gave up just one run on one hit.
- Jakob Valleroy (0-1) started and took the loss for Piedmont after going 2.2 innings and giving up five runs.
- Butler, Andrews and Kandrick each had three hits for Roanoke, while Staz had two hits and four RBI.
Score: Roanoke 5, No. 25 Christopher Newport 4
Records: Roanoke 4-1 | Christopher Newport 2-2
Location: Newport News, Va.
The Lead: Roanoke rallied for a pair of runs in the ninth inning to upend host and twenty-fifth ranked Christopher Newport 5-4 in the second game of the day.
How it Happened
- After three scoreless innings to start the game, Smith homered with one out in the top of the fourth inning to give RC a 1-0 advantage.
- CNU struck for two runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning on an Eric O'Brien RBI single and a bases loaded walk from Evan Baer.
- In the Roanoke fifth inning, Merriken walked with two outs and moved to second on a Salva single. Kandrick then followed with a single to score Merriken and tie the game at 2-2.
- Watson walked to load the bases and Smith drew a free pass to plate Salva and give RC a 3-2 edge.
- CNU took the lead back in the sixth inning when Baer doubled with one-out to score a pair of runs and make it 4-3.
- In the decisive Roanoke ninth inning, Kandrick walked and Watson singled to put runners on first and second with one out. Watson stole second and Staz delivered a two-out single to bring both runners around to score and put RC in front 5-4.
- Christopher Newport's Conner Clark walked to open the ninth inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt but Ryan Cloude got the final two outs to seal the win for RC.
- Cloude improved to 2-0 on the season after tossing three inning of relief where he gave up just one hit and struck out four.
- Staz finished with two hits and two RBI for RC.
Up Next: Roanoke closes out the weekend on Sunday with an 11:00 a.m. game against Piedmont at CNU.