Posted: Apr 14, 2008
The Roanoke College baseball team defeated Ferrum, 6-3 at Kiwanis Field on Monday evening. The win was the first for the Maroons over the Panthers since baseball was brought back to the school seven years ago. The Maroons improved to 14-19 on the season while the Panthers dropped to 8-19.
The win gave the Maroons the first win of the series against Ferrum (1-7). The closest the Maroons came to a win was a 12-11 loss in 2006. The win also give the Maroons the third most wins in a single-season, next to 15 wins in 2006 and 16 wins in the 2004 season.
Pitcher Cody Kidd got into a jam early in the second inning as Ferrum got a base hit and a walk to put runners in scoring position. A single by the Panthers' Jason Butterworth to right field seemed far away enough to advance the runner home but was thrown out at home to end the inning.
The Maroons threatened to score in the bottom of the second. Matt Vess started off with a walk, then with two outs Alan Moore was hit by a pitch. Ferrum walked Brad Greenway to load the bases and set up a golden opportunity to score, but Michael Kluge hit into a fielder's choice as Moore was out at third to end the threat.
The Panthers broke the scoreless game in the top of the sixth with a two-run blast by Kevin Marshall to put the Panthers up, 2-0. They added another run in the seventh as Jesse Fuller doubled down the left field line to score DJ Phillips, who just hit a double earlier that inning to put them ahead, 3-0.
The Roanoke baseball team then did what they have done all season – come from behind to take the lead with a big seventh inning.
Jake Furry started the inning with a walk followed by Moore's single to put Furry in scoring position. Greenway reached on base on an error to load the bases. Kluge and Noah Davidson walked to score two runs to load the bases again, which set the stage for the team's best hitter, Graham Thacker.
He stepped to the plate and cleared the bases with a three-run single and advanced to second on a fielding error by the leftfielder to give his team the lead, 5-3. Thacker set the school's single-season hits record with 53 as of tonight. He is third in single-season at bats (129), needing nine more to break the school-record. His 31 RBI this season is third all-time and needs four more to break the single-season mark.
After a sacrifice fly by Brennan Thacker to advance his brother to third, Vess singled to bring in Thacker and made the score, 6-3.
Barrett Henderson relieved Kidd in the eighth and retired the side, striking out two batters against his former team to end the inning. In the ninth, Drew Wallace earned his third save of the season as he came into the game with one out and bases loaded with the bulk of the Panthers lineup ahead. Wallace delivered, as he struck out the first batter and a fly out to dead center gave him a share of the single-season record for saves (3) and the Maroons' first win over their local rival.
Kidd (4-4) moved into a tie for second in single-season wins with Chris Caputo and needs one more to tie the school mark. He went seven innings and struck out two batters while allowing one walk. Wallace (56.2) and Henderson (55) are sixth and seventh, respectively for innings pitched in a season.
Davidson went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. He moved into fourth all-time in runs in a season (30). He is already the single-season walks leader with 25 on the season. Vess had a single and an RBI and is now tied for sixth in single-season runs (25). Moore had his first multi-hit game since W&L (3/22) and his 10th of the year, including his team-leading ninth double of the year.
Roanoke will try to accomplish only their second trip to the ODAC Tournament as they will travel to Farmville, Va. to battle Hampden-Sydney in the final doubleheader of the season. The Maroons are 2-8 against the Tigers and have not defeated them since 2005. The doubleheader is a big one for both teams as it has post-season implications with the winner advancing to the ODAC Tournament.
The seven ODAC wins already matches last season's win total and is tied for the second-most conference wins in a season. They need one more win to tie the school-mark of eight set in 2005 which was their only ODAC post-season appearance.
The men will host Bluefield College in the final home game of the 2008 season. The Maroons are 1-6 against Bluefield, with their only win coming in 2005 (10-9). Roanoke dropped a 15-7 decision to BC earlier this season (3/13). Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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