FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. --- Roanoke went 2-2 over the weekend at the Methodist/Diamond Baseball Invitational on the campus of Methodist University. The Maroons improved its mark to 3-4 on the young season.

 

Cameron Travalini (Millville, DE, Indian River)led the Maroons at the plate this weekend, going 7-for-15 with two doubles, three RBI, three walks and two stolen bases. Graham Thacker (Forest, VA, Jefferson Forest)produced five hits and five RBI over the weekend.

 

The Maroons fell to Huntington (AL), 17-5 in the first game of the weekend. Chris Caputo (Dunwoody, GA, Dunwoody)(0-2) took the loss. Even in defeat, Roanoke had a season-high 11 hits on the day, but gave up 20 and committed five errors on the afternoon. The Hawks are 2-0 against the Maroons, defeating them, 10-3 last season.

 

The Hawks jumped out to a commanding 9-0 lead after four innings before Roanoke got on the board. In the top of the fifth, Noah Davidson (Salem, VA, Salem)singled and Travalini doubled to left center to put both runners on scoring position. They eventually scored to close to within seven.

 

After a Huntington run in the bottom of the fifth, the Maroons scored two more in the top of the sixth. Davidson's sacrifice hit scored Barrett Henderson, who led off the inning with a walk. Travalini brought in Robbie Scott (Mt. Kisco, NY, Fox Lane), who singled earlier in the inning, with his second double of the game to make it, 10-4.

 

But the Maroons were stagnant in the final two innings, scoring only one run to the Hawks' six to give the final result. Roanoke ended both the first and the eighth innings with bases loaded for a game total of 13 runners left on base.

 

Travalini went 3-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI's and a run scored. Caylen Baire (St. Albans, WV, St. Albans)went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Mark Manthe (Blacksburg, VA, Blacksburg)also collected two hits.

 

In the second game of the day, which didn't start until 9 p.m., the Maroons held on to win, 6-5 over Frostburg St. It was the second win over the Bobcats in as many years. They defeated FSU, 4-2 last season.

 

Cody Kidd (Salem, VA, Glenvar)(1-1) won his first game on the season, going 7.1 innings with three strikeouts and two earned runs. Tyler Grouten (Avon, CT, Avon)earned his first career save.

 

The Maroons scored first as Travalini led off with a walk, stole second and scored off a single to left center from Thacker to give Roanoke the early lead.

 

In the third, Travalini forced his second walk of the game. He advanced to third on an error, and scored off a wild pitch to give Roanoke a 2-0 lead. Baire, who reached base on an error, stole third and advanced home off a throwing error by the catcher to give the Maroons some insurance runs and a 3-0 lead.

 

Frostburg St. got on the board in the top of the fourth, but Roanoke answered with a run of their own in the bottom half to keep the three-run lead. The Maroons scored again in the sixth to make it, 5-1.

 

In the top of the seventh, the Bobcats scored three runs to cut the lead to within one. In the bottom half, Matt Herron (Roanoke, VA, Northside)single up the middle brought in Henderson, who scored for the second time in the game to give RC a 6-4 advantage.

 

In the top of the ninth, the Maroons gave up a run and had two runners in scoring position with no outs. Davidson, who played right field, saved the game as he made all three outs. After a fly out, Davidson caught a deep ball in right and threw out the runner on second who tried didn't make it back to the bag in time to end the game on a double-play.

 

In Saturday night's contest, Roanoke defeated SUNY-Farmingdale, 12-0. The Maroons ended the game early thanks to a four-run eighth inning which stopped the game due to the 10-run rule for the tournament.

 

Travalini was outstanding once again, going 3-for-5 with two runs, a stolen base and an RBI. Thacker went 2-for-4 with a double and a season-best four RBI and a run. Henderson enjoyed a career-night, with three hits and three runs scored. Sean Mathiesen (San Clemente, CA, San Clemente)had three hits and drove in two runs while Davidson went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI.

 

Michael Haslam (Collegeville, PA, Springfield)(1-0) picked up his first collegiate victory, going eight innings with seven strikeouts. He scattered six hits and walked only two batters in his second collegiate appearance.

 

In the final game of the weekend, Roanoke fell to tournament-host Methodist, 9-0. The Monarchs spread the game wide open with a five-run third inning and two more in the fourth to pull away for their sixth win of the season.

 

The Maroons scattered 10 hits, the second-highest of the season, but couldn't combine them to manufacture runs. Alan Moore (Roanoke, VA, Cave Spring)led the team at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a double. Thacker went 2-for-3. Grouten (1-1) took the loss for Roanoke.

 

The Maroons are scheduled to play Averett on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at Kiwanis Field.