Posted: Mar 11, 2023
The Basics
Score: Roanoke 8, Eastern Mennonite 6
Records: Maroons 7-7, 1-0 ODAC; Royals 4-10, 0-1 ODAC
Location: Harrisonburg, Va.
The Lead: The Roanoke baseball team opened up ODAC play by scoring two runs in the top of the ninth inning to defeat Eastern Mennonite 8-6 on the road in Harrisonburg Saturday afternoon.
Highlights:
- The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the second inning off back-to-back hits. The Maroons answered in the top of the fourth with a pair of runs, starting when Owen Lawn singled through the left side that scored Jonny Wall from second. Next up Nate Prince singled to second base, but the Royals had a throwing error on the attempt to get Lawn out at second, in which Lawn reached third. Caleb Grizzard hit a deep sacrifice fly to center field that advanced both Prince to third and Lawn to reach home, giving the Maroons a 2-1 lead.
- With one out in the top of the fifth, Jacob Bonzon singled to second and two batters later stole second. Wall then hit a deep single to center that allowed Bonzon to round third and reach home and give Roanoke a 3-1 lead.
- A single run by the Royals in the bottom of the sixth was answered by the Maroons with three runs in the top of the seventh. After Spencer Rhoads singled through the left side, Brody Langlotz came in and pinch-ran, and proceeded to steal second. Later in Carson McCusker's at-bat, Langlotz reached third on a balk. McCusker then hit a single through the right side that easily scored Langlotz putting the Maroons up 4-2. After Bonzon tripled to right, Mason Staz doubled to left which allowed Bonzon to score his second run of the game. Wall then followed up with a single to second base that allowed Staz to come all the way home, putting the Roanoke lead at 6-2.
- EMU would close the gap in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings with two runs in each to tie the score up at 6-6 heading into the ninth.
- McCusker led off with a walk and stolen base for the Maroons in the top of the ninth. A wild pitch later and he was on third. Bonzon followed up with a walk and then took second base when the Royals did not attempt a throw. With no outs, Staz hit a single deep to right that allowed both Bonzon and McCusker to come around and once again gave the Maroons a two-run lead at 8-6, which they held onto for the win.
- Will Turner earned his second win of the season and Aiden Kuhle, who came into pitch in the bottom of the ninth, earned his first save.
- Bonzon finished the game with three runs, two hits, and two walks. Wall led the Maroons with three hits, two RBIs, and a run scored.
The Basics
Score: Roanoke 8, Eastern Mennonite 1
Records: Maroons 8-7, 2-0 ODAC; Royals 4-11, 0-2 ODAC
Location: Harrisonburg, Va.
The Lead: The Roanoke baseball team completed the doubleheader sweep of Eastern Mennonite with an 8-1 win over the Royals in game two.
Highlights:
- Bonzon led off game two for the Maroons with a double and reached third on a Staz flyout to right. A wild pitch later and the Maroons took an early 1-0 lead. The Royals tied the score up in the bottom of the third on a Roanoke wild pitch.
- The fifth inning proved to be the difference maker as the Maroons loaded the bases to start with a walk, single, hit by pitch. Wall then hit a sacrifice fly to right, which allowed McCusker to score, giving the Maroons a 2-1 lead and Bonzon to reach third, as Staz stayed on first. After Staz advanced to second on a wild pitch, Corey Butler hit a double to center field that pushed both Staz and Bonzon across home plate as the Maroons expanded their lead, 4-1. Next up Lawn hit a home run to nearly dead center field as Roanoke continued to push their lead with their fourth and fifth runs of the inning, giving the Maroons the 6-1 lead.
- Roanoke added two more runs, one in each of the sixth and seventh innings, including a solo home run by Grizzard in the seventh, to put their lead up to 8-1 where they kept EMU off the board the final six innings for the win.
- Caleb Lingenfelter his first complete game of the season to earn the win. He collected three strikeouts and allowed just two hits and one walk.
- Bonzon tallied three more runs and four more hits in game two, scoring six runs and six hits on the day.
Up next: Roanoke is back at home on Saturday, March 18 when they host a doubleheader with No. 12 Lynchburg. First pitch with the nationally-ranked Hornets at 12 p.m. at Salem Memorial BallPark.