Greensboro, N.C. (4/21/07) -- Guilford College's baseball team closed the home portion of its schedule Saturday by splitting an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) doubleheader with league-leading Virginia Wesleyan College. Senior right-hander Chris Rivera improved to 8-0 with a complete-game seven-hitter in the Marlins' 13-3 opening-game win. The Quakers took advantage of former teammate Dave Whigham's early wildness and held on for a 7-4 victory in the nightcap.
Virginia Wesleyan (21-15, 13-5 ODAC) jumped out to a 9-1 lead after one-and-a-half innings, which was more than enough offense for Rivera. Senior Matt Hudgins belted his team-leading fifth homer of the season in the first inning off of Guilford starter Paul Keenan (3-5) to give the guests an early 2-0 edge. After the Quakers (12-24, 5-13 ODAC) answered with an unearned run, Virginia Wesleyan broke the game open with a seven-run second inning that featured two Guilford errors and a three-run homer by senior Keith Petters. Petters added an RBI single in the fifth and finished with three hits and four RBI, both game highs. Hudgins went 2-3 with three RBI and three runs scored.
The nightcap featured an intriguing matchup as Whigham returned to face his former team for the first time. The senior right-hander went 17-7 in three seasons for Guilford before transferring to Virginia Wesleyan for his senior year. Whigham, who entered the game with a league-leading 1.39 earned run average, struck out the side in the first inning. The Quakers took a 3-2 lead in the third thanks to a pair of hit batsmen, a walk and a Whigham fielding error. Guilford went ahead 5-2 in the fourth inning with a pair of unearned runs and a successful squeeze bunt by Ben Bizier, one of three seniors making their final McBane Field appearance.
A Bizier bunt fielder's choice scored a run in the fifth and opened a 6-2 Quakers' edge for starter Reid MacLean. The rookie right-hander worked out of trouble for most of the game, but lasted into the ninth inning for his team-leading fifth win. He scattered 10 hits, fanned six, walked four and yielded one earned run. MacLean left the game in the top of the ninth after Brian Schweers opened with a double Ozz Dhramapitaksook followed with an RBI single. Senior Chad Boone relieved MacLean and promptly picked Dhramapitaksook off first. Hudgins drew a one-out walk and Ricky Allred drove him home with his second double of the game. Boone fanned a pair of pinch-hitters around a single to end Virginia Wesleyan's rally.
Seven of the Quakers' nine starters had hits, including senior Brian Burton, who doubled and scored in the fifth and drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning. Schweers, Allred and Petters all tallied two hits apiece for the Marlins.
Guilford ends the season Tuesday (4/24) at NCAA Division II Bluefield State. The Marlins visit Mary Washington Tuesday before next Thursday's ODAC Tournament begins.
