ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – Despite terrific midweek pitching from
Stratton Barwick (Siler City, N.C.),
Izaac McGuire (Wilkesboro, N.C.), and
John Yarnovich (Summerfield, N.C.), the offense could not get going for the Guilford College baseball team (9-12, 1-6 ODAC) against North Carolina Wesleyan University (5-16, 2-4 USA South), falling 3-1 at Bauer Field on Wednesday evening.
Barwick provided 4.0 innings of quality work in his fourth start of the season, a couple of runs allowed in his final frame of action took some sheen off his line, but he ceded just four baserunners on three hits and a walk, fanning one. Unfortunately, the Quaker offense could not get the lefty off the hook, and he took the defeat to drop to 1-1.
Tyler Jumper got the ball to open for the Battling Bishops and he was sharp, allowing just one unearned run on three hits and three walks while striking out six in 3.2 innings, but he did not factor into the pitching decision. Earning the win instead would be Jackson Pavone who tossed the following 3.1 innings allowing just two hits against two K's and improve to 2-0. Drake Hobgood threw a perfect eighth for a hold before Aaron Holley allowed a hit, but locked down his first save.
The Quakers mustered only six hits as a collective, with two of those off the bat of
Rylan Smith (Archdale, N.C.), who finished 2-4 with a double, driving in
Ryne Rodrigues (Summerfield, N.C.) for the lone GC run of the game.
Skyler Dark (Pleasant Garden, N.C.) had the only other extra-base hit of the game for Guilford, doubling, walking, and stealing a base in a 1-3 evening.
Gavin Fleming (Gibsonville, N.C.) matched Dark's line, albeit with a single as his hit.
Banks Hartman factored into all-three NCWU runs, bashing a pair of RBI-doubles and scoring the third run as the only Battling Bishop to reach multiple times in the game. Schumata Brown and Maison Nance also each had a double and a run scored and Malachi Hayes also tagged a two-bagger. Brady Williams provided the hosts' third RBI with a sacrifice fly.
Barwick and Jumper set the tone through the first three innings of play. Barwick allowed the first Battling Bishop of the game, Hayes, to double but left him then did not allow a hit for the following two innings. On the other side, GC got two men aboard with one out in the second, but nothing came of the chance.
It ended up being a defensive miscue that opened the door for the evening's initial run. Rodrigues led off by hitting one on the screws, but right at the second baseman Jake Flowers, although it was mishandled. Smith wasted no time picking him up, bashing one into the base of the left-centerfield fence, sticking at the base of the wall, and allowing Rodrigues to come all the way home from first and put Guilford in front. The Quakers proceeded to load the bases and threaten from more, but Pavone came in and shut down the chance. NCWU countered in the home half with Nance and Hartman clubbing back-to-back doubles to level the score before a sacrifice bunt by Kyle Brazaeu and a sac fly off the bat of Williams put the hosts in the lead, 2-1.
It would be all about the arms the rest of the way. Guilford threatened to tie with a Dark double and steal with one out in the fifth, then did so again with two outs via a Fleming single, steal, and an error in the sixth, but just went quiet overall over the final frames. The hosts tacked on an insurance run in the eighth on Hartman's second RBI double of the day, bringing the score to a 3-1 final.
The Quakers will look to snap their skid as they get back to Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play, hitting the road to visit Washington & Lee University for a doubleheader on Saturday, March 28
th with first pitch of game one set for 12:00 PM in Lexington, Va.
#GoQuakes
