Buena Vista, VA - The Southern Virginia baseball team took on North Carolina Wesleyan University in a 3-game series this weekend, who are the reigning USA South Athletic Conference champions and No. 17 ranked team in the nation. The Knights found just 1 win after 3 action-packed games. Southern Virginia has now faced NC Wesleyan 9 times overall and Thursday's victory marks their first win against them all-time.
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Game 1: The Bishops started the game off strong with 2 runs coming in the top of the 1st inning. The first run came quickly after 2 consecutive hits, the second hit being an RBI. The second run came after a walk and an error from the Knight defense, followed by a double play with the bases loaded that allowed 1 base runner to cross home plate.
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The Knights offense didn't take long to respond. From the 2nd to the 6th innings, Southern Virginia scored 8 runs unanswered to bring the score to 8-2, tallying 8 hits and 8 RBIs, including a 2-run home run by CF
Nick Daynes (1 hit, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 SB) in the bottom of the 5th.
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NC Wesleyan added to the scoreboard once again in the 7th inning with a 2-run homer of their own. They then scored 3 additional runs in the 8th inning off of 4 hits to bring the score to 8-7, diminishing the once 6 run Knight lead to only 1 run. Southern Virginia kept their bats alive, however, putting 1 extra insurance run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the 8th inning.
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The Battling Bishops were unable to score in the top of the 9th and the game ended with the Knights victorious, 9-7. Almost every Knight batter produced in some capacity, from sacrifice plays to stealing bases, and a total of 6 batters tallied at least one RBI of their own. P Zack Geerstsen was given the win, as he pitched 6 innings and only gave up 4 hits, 2 runs (both earned), and 4 walks.
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Game 2: Despite a valiant effort by 1B
Stockton Hall going a perfect 3 for 3 with 1 double, the Knights were unable to produce a single run against the Battling Bishops. The game was dominated by North Carolina Wesleyan in the 0-17 loss.
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Game 3: The final matchup of the weekend turned out to be a hitting frenzy for both teams and went into an extra inning. After 10 innings, the Knights ended with 16 total hits and 8 runs, and the Bishops had a total of 15 hits and 10 runs.
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The 1st inning started a bit shaky from the Southern Virginia pitching, giving up 2 hits, one batter hit by pitch, and allowing baserunners to advance on a few wild pitches. Ultimately, NC Wesleyan only recorded 1 run, which would be the only run scored by either team through 3 innings.
The top of the 4th inning is where the action began, with NC Wesleyan scoring 4 runs off of 4 hits. In addition to their hits, the Bishops found themselves moving around the bases with ease thanks to some wild pitches and 3 other stolen bases.
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The Knights were quick to respond, and found their offensive stride from the 4th to the 7th innings where they scored 8 runs unanswered. These 4 innings featured a whopping 5 RBIs from 2B
Mitch Smith off of 2 hits, including Southern Virginia's only double. Adding to the scoreboard as well, RF
Ty Martinez went 3 for 6 with 1 RBI and LF
Benjamin Horsley went 2 for 5 with 1 RBI. The last run came from 1B
Stockton Hall doing it himself with a solo home run to deep left center field leading off the bottom of the 7th inning, ending the game 3 for 4 and 3 runs.
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The Knights felt confident going into the 8th inning with a 8-5 lead, but their bats went cold as we only saw 1 more Southern Virginia hit for the rest of the day. The Bishops, conversely, regained their composure and went on to tie the game 8-8 in the top of the 8th inning with 3 runs off of 2 hits and help from a poor defensive Knight showing with 2 walks and 1 error. NC Wesleyan finished the game off by adding 2 more runs in the top of the 10th and the game ended 8-10 in favor of the Battling Bishops.
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The Southern Virginia baseball team will compete at home on Tuesday, March 26th at 2pm against the Apprentice School Builders, a non-conference opponent traveling in from Newport News, VA. The Knights look to extend their current 1 game win streak against them.
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For all the most up-to-date information regarding Southern Virginia University baseball, please visit knightathletics.com and follow @knight_bsb on Instagram.
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