The Basics
Score: Roanoke 5, Washington and Lee 3
Records: Maroons 26-15; Generals 18-16
Location: Rocky Mount, Va.

The Lead: The No. 3 seed Roanoke baseball team got an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth and Alex Markus pitched a three up, three strikeout ninth as the Maroons earned a 5-3 win over No. 6 seed Washington and Lee in their Game 1 of a best-of-three series on the opening weekend of the 2023 ODAC Tournament.

Highlights:

• After a scoreless first and one out in the second, Tucker Schiavoni walked and reached second on a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt. After a flyout, Jacob Bonzon singled to center field bringing Schiavoni home and giving the Maroons a 1-0 lead. After Mason Staz walked, Jonny Wall followed up with a single to right that scored Bonzon and put M. Staz on third. Conner Butler would come up next and load the bases with a walk. A wild pitch by the Generals allowed M. Staz to come home and give Roanoke a 3-0 lead after two innings. 
• The third inning saw the Maroons load the bases with two outs and two walks and hit batter. Wall was back up for the second time in as many innings and would get hit himself to score an RBI and a run to put the Maroons ahead 4-0.
• Washington and Lee got on the scoreboard in the fifth with a two-out home run to left and then knock in another run in the top of the seventh with a lead-off home run to cut the Maroon lead down to 4-2. With two outs in the inning, the Generals got back-to-back hits, including a double, to score their third run of the game to make it a one-run contest.
• In the eighth, Butler led off with a single through the left side. Owen Lawn would hit a single to left that pushed Butler to third. On a play at second as Lawn tried to stretch it into a double, there was not a clean look at the play and with the ball live, Butler took off for home and was able to score, despite Lawn eventually being called out, giving the Maroons a 5-3 heading into the ninth. 
• Markus came into pitch the ninth and struck out all three batters he faced to earn the save. 
• Bonzon, Wall, and Butler each had two hits in the game.
• Will Turner earned the win (6-1) on the field he played on in high school after going seven innings with three strikeouts. 

Up next: Roanoke and Washington and Lee will play game two of their series tomorrow, Sunday, May 7 back at WW Naff Jr. Field in Rocky Mount. If the Maroons win Game 2 at 12 p.m., they advance to the championship weekend in Richmond. If the Generals win, the two teams will play a third game with a spot in the ODAC final four on the line at 3 p.m.