College Baseball Final – Roanoke 11, Guilford 8

SALEM, Va. – Bradley Mattox’s RBI single in the seventh broke a 7-7 tie and sent Roanoke College to an 11-8 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) baseball win over Guilford College Tuesday night. Pinch-hitter Dalton Lipes added a two-run double in the seventh, which opened a 10-7 edge for the Maroons (13-17, 4-7 ODAC).

Guilford got one run back in the top of the eighth on a bases-loaded walk by Kent Peterson, but reliever Austin Gregory retired Zack Montalbano to end the threat. Gregory pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his second save. Tyler Grouten (1-1), Roanoke’s second of three pitchers, earned the victory.

Jacob Clifton paced the Maroons’ offense with three hits and three RBI. He had a game-tying RBI single in the second, and added a two-run double in Roanoke’s four-run third inning that opened a 5-1 lead. Mattox also had three hits and scored three times. Ben Amos went two-for-three with two RBI and teammates Matt Wallman and Chad Hill also had two hits.

Guilford’s Ben Esser enjoyed a career night with four hits, including his first homer of the season, and three RBI. Teammate John Macon Smith (Greensboro,
N.C./Western Guilford (Western Carolina)) opened the game’s scoring with his NCAA Division III-leading 10th home run of the year, a solo shot. Freshman Chad Wagoner (Archdale, N.C./Trinity) took the loss, despite striking out a career-high five batters in 3.2 innings. He entered the game in the fourth inning in relief of rookie starter Justin Morrison (High Point, N.C./High Point Christian), who allowed six runs on seven hits through three innings.
Guilford (16-14, 5-5 ODAC) visits Averett University Wednesday (4/4) for a 3:00 p.m. game.

   Guilford (16-14, 5-5 ODAC)          100 220 210 – 8   11   0
   Roanoke (13-17, 4-7 ODAC)           014 101 31x – 11  14   4

Pitchers – Guilford — Justin Morrison; Chad Wagoner (4); Micah Winterstein (8) and Gabe Mirabelli; Will Byrd (8). Roanoke – Jacob McMillian; Tyler Grouten (7); Austin Gregory (8) and Matt Wallman.

Win – Tyler Grouten (1-2).
Loss – Chad Wagoner (1-1).
Save – Austin Gregory (2).
HR – GC – John Macon Smith (10), Ben Esser (1).