GREENSBORO, N.C. – Smashing a go-ahead grand slam, his second longball of the doubleheader, to cap a six-run fourth inning, Ryne Rodrigues (Summerfield, N.C.) powered the Guilford College baseball team (1-3, 0-0 ODAC) to muster a split with (RV) Lycoming College (2-1, 0-0 Landmark) on Saturday, falling in game one, 11-5 before bursting past the Warriors 6-2 in the second contest at Edgar H. McBane Field.

Jonathan Sendziak (McLeansville, N.C.) made his Quakers debut in the early contest but scuffled with command, walking four and plunking two in addition to five hits permitted leading to eight runs, five earned. He also fanned three over 3.2 innings, but took the defeat to fall to 0-1.

A.J. Llorente also made it 3.2 frames, but was sharper, walking one and permitting six hits and two runs while striking out two. He did not qualify for the win and instead it was Brayden Maksimik who got the win on a scorer's decision as the most-effective pitcher deployed. He improved to 1-0 by throwing 3.1 innings of one-run baseball, allowing just four hits against five K's.

Skyler Dark (Pleasant Garden, N.C.) hit another double in a 2-for-5 game, scoring once and driving in another. Rodrigues hit the first of his two longballs, a two-run shot as a part of a 2-of-5 showing while Ethan George (Burlington, N.C.) also went deep in the game. Chris Shoemaker (Winston-Salem, N.C.) went 3-for-3 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI off the bench and Rylan Smith (Archdale, N.C.) also had a pair of hits for the Quakers in the defeat.

In addition to his pitching efforts, Llorente led the Warriors offense going 3-for-4 with a run scored and two driven in. Brody Lindsey had a two-run double and a sacrifice bunt, driving in three and Tyler Iams went deep in the game.

Marcello Ricigliano (Kernersville, N.C.) was really strong in the second contest, shaking off a pair of third-inning runs to finish six full frames allowing seven hits and a walk while striking out three to snap his string of eight-straight losing decisions dating back to 2024 and improving to 1-1.

Landon Evans started the second game for LC and got some great fortune in a couple of scoreless innings as he navigated four walks and a hit. Mason Drozal relieved him and allowed the six-run fourth in the second of his two innings, allowing seven hits and taking the defeat to fall to 0-1.

Rodrigues' grand slam was GC's lone extra-base tally in the late contest as he also added a walk to his line. Trae Pitts (Land O' Lakes, Fla.) was impressive in his first start of the year, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and one driven in. CJ Buchan (Williamsburg, N.C.) also scored once and drove in one finishing 1-for-2 with a walk.

Llorente contributed another great game, reaching in all-three turns at the plate with a couple singles and a walk, driving in a run. Josh Bottger scored once and drove in one run and Tyler Wetzel doubled and scored in the contest.

GAME 1      
Jonathan Sendziak (McLeansville, N.C.) immediately ended up in trouble in the first, walking the first two on just nine pitched before A.J. Llorente singled up the middle to drive in the initial run. Brody Lindsey executed a safety squeeze, and the Warriors led 2-0 after one. They then got right back to work in the second as Kaden Shay doubled in between a pair of hit batsmen with one out in the inning as the bases were loaded. Sean Perkins worked a walk to force in a run, Llorente hit a sacrifice fly and Lindsey doubled in two more as the guests mounted a 6-0 advantage.

After Skyler Dark (Pleasant Garden, N.C.) dumped a double into left, Ryne Rodrigues (Summerfield, N.C.) jumped on the first pitch he saw from Llorente in the bottom of the third, getting GC on the board with a two-run homerun. Unfortunately, LC countered with two in the top of the fourth on an Anthony Guzman two-run single.

Neither team got on the board again until the seventh, when Shay executed a safety squeeze in the top half. In the bottom half, Chris Shoemaker (Winston-Salem, N.C.) doubled and Dark chased him home with a single to center. Ethan George (Burlington, N.C.) homered to left and Shoemaker drove in a run with a single later in the inning as the Quakers suddenly cut it to a four-run game. Tyler Iams hit a two-run homer after an error extended the top of the ninth, however, as game one finished with an 11-5 score.

GAME 2
Guilford threatened for a couple of crooked numbers early in the late contest as Trae Pitts (Land O' Lakes, Fla.) singled, Ryne Rodrigues (Summerfield, N.C.) walked, and Skyler Dark (Pleasant Garden, N.C.) sacrificed them up but Rylan Smith (Archdale, N.C.) smoked a line drive that got caught and Rodrigues got doubled off, ending the first. Then in the second, Dawson Kirkland (Clermont, Fla.), Sam Melton (Cartersville, Ga.), and C.J. Buchan (Williamsburg, N.C.) drew three-straight one-out bases on balls. However Christian Chinen (Honolulu, Hawaii) got jammed, floating one in front of first, no infield fly was called as it was not hit high enough, but first baseman Rhys Evans also trapped it on a diving bid and as a result, essentially everyone was left in a state of confusion as the Quaker runner held at the bases they occupied and instead a profoundly unlucky 3-2-5 double play featuring force outs at home and third was turned against GC.

Making matters worse, Lycoming broke the scoreless tie in the third as Tyler Wetzel doubled and then scored when Josh Bottger singled on a ball that glanced off the diving bid by Caleb Coggins (Trinity, N.C.). Bottger took second on the throw home and scored on a A.J. Llorente single as they guests grabbed a 2-0 lead.

Guilford's offense finally awoke, as Kirkland, Melton, and Buchan, the same trio that nearly lit the spark in the second, all singled as the final knock from Buchan got GC on the board. Chinen followed beating an infield hit on a nubber to third and Pitts leveled the score with clean single to center. That set the stage for Rodrigues who got a good one on the second pitch he saw from Mason Drozal and he bashed it over the scoreboard in left-center for the grand slam.

All the while, Marcello Ricigliano (Kernersville, N.C.) had found his groove, navigating single baserunners, but nothing more in the fifth and sixth before GC handed the ball to Braden Bradford (Jamestown, N.C.) who walked a man but also fanned one in a lockdown seventh as the Quakers salvaged the final game of the weekend set, winning 6-2.

Guilford is back at McBane Field on Wednesday, February 18^th for a clash with North Carolina Wesleyan University beginning at 2:00 PM.

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