BUENA VISTA, Va. – The Southern Virginia University Baseball team (7-8, 0-3) opened USA South conference play this weekend, taking on Brevard College (13-6, 3-0) in a three-game series. After Friday's first-ever meeting with the Tornados resulted in a loss, the Knights looked hopeful to turn the series around on Saturday's double-header.
The first game was a whirlwind of offense in the opening innings from the Tornadoes answered by a siege of short hits and grounders from the Knights. Brevard took a big bat to the plate, hitting a total of four doubles and two home runs. They backed that up with speed on the bases, stealing a total of ten times in nine innings.
Early in the game, Southern Virginia hit two homers from Nick Daynes and Mitch Smith, keeping the game close early on. Smith helped one of his teammates find home on his trip around the bases to tie the game at eight in the fifth inning.
The Knights retook the lead with a barrage of offense in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases and pressing in two runs on a passed ball and a hit-by-pitch on Marcelino Leonardo Jr. Stockton Hall followed with a double, igniting an explosion of small-ball. Southern Virginia zoomed passed Brevard with a series of scorching groundballs passed the infield to get them another seven runs, taking the score to 15-8 in favor of the home team.
Brevard, however, answered immediately, tallying ten runs of their own to restore its advantage, 18-15.
Southern Virginia added a run in the bottom of the seventh, cutting the deficit to two, but it couldn't withstand the late effort from Brevard, falling with a score of 19-16.
The second game ended at the bottom of the fifth after a long three game series. The Knights exhausted their bullpen by the end of the three-game series, with everyone getting a chance to toss this weekend–using five pitchers and balking a total of seven times in five innings. The effort ended early with a score of 23-6.
The Knights hit the road to take on Christopher Newport University for their next game on Tuesday, Mar. 21.
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