Box Score By Laura Tome
BUENA VISTA, Va.—Despite catcher Ryan Gabriel being a homerun shy of hitting a cycle and going 3-5 against the visiting Mary Washington Eagles, the Southern Virginia University baseball team fell 15-5 Wednesday afternoon at Parry McCluer High School in Buena Vista, Va.
Chris Madison started on the mound for the Knights and was relieved by Tyler King after five Eagle runs in the first two innings. Sophomore James Sink started the inning off with a double and catcher Jono Haught brought him home after a double of his own. Connor Finnerty hit a single to earn two RBI and make the score 3-0 early on.
Ryan Gabriel managed a single and was scored off of Hunter Allen's double to right center field. The Eagles answered back with two hits and two runs in the second inning.
The Knights would even the score in the second inning. C.J. Andrus, Mitch Mantle, and Andrew Price found their way to the bases and Justin Cooper was walked to bring Andrus across the plate for another Knight run. Jordan Keefer had a sac fly to right field to bring in Mantle and Gabriel hit a triple to right center to bring in two RBI.
King ended the second inning and held the Eagles at four runs until the seventh inning. Mary Washington's James Keller singled up the middle to start the inning. Derek Nease hit a single and advanced to second on an error which allowed Keller to score the first of five runs that inning. Taylor Pacheco relieved King and had three hits and four runs against him before Zach McNally stepped on the mound to close the inning for the Knights.
Gabriel hit a ground-rule double but was left stranded in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Eagles came out in the eighth and had four hits and two runs before Gage Bigelow stepped in for McNally. The Eagles continued to score three more runs before the end of the inning.
The Knights managed one more hit but failed to bring in more runs to finish the game with a 15-5 loss.
The Eagles' David Phillips earned his first win of the season after 5.2 innings on the mound while Southern Virginia's Tyler King picked up the loss after 4.1 innings on the mound.
The Knights return to the diamond to face ODAC member Eastern Mennonite in a single game Thursday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled at 4:00 pm at Parry McCluer High School in Buena Vista, Va.
