Greensboro College Baseball Wraps Up Spring Break Trip With Two Victories

Baseball Wraps Up Spring Break Trip With Two Victories
Courtesy of Wes Gullett, Greensboro College SID

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Greensboro College baseball team closed out their spring break trip with a two-game sweep Wednesday.

The Pride defeated Muhlenburg to open the day, 12-1, before topping Clarks Summit University, 11-3.

“Overall it was good two days for our program,” Head Coach Frank Maldonado said. “There was a lot of bright spots in all aspects of the game but we still have some areas that we need to clean up.

“Now we turn our attention to this weekend’s home series with Methodist.”

MUHLENBERG RECAP

After neither team plated a run in the first inning, Greensboro struck for four runs in the second inning. Jacob Rodriguez scored the first run on a wild pitch before Brandon Soden came in to score on a Michael Faul sacrifice fly.

Later in the inning, Andrew Ray laced a double into left center field to score Tim Osborne and Zach Neumesiter.

Greensboro then added another run in the fourth inning with a infield single by Blake Glass.

The Pride was able to add one more run in the fifth inning before exploding for six runs in the seventh inning,

Glass recorded his second RBI of the game with a single to right field before Bram Johnson scored Braedon Jewett and Adam Murray with a single to right field.

Soden and Osborne the followed up Johnson’s single with back-to-back RBI triples.

The Mules then scored the game’s final run in the bottom half of the seventh inning.

Rodriguez and Glass had a team-high three hits each, while Michael Faul, Johnson, and Jewett had two hits each.

Tyler Garam started on the mound and pitched a stellar 4 2/3 innings but did not factor into the decision. Kyle Zicafoose was credited with the win, while Hunter Curtis also pitched for the Pride.

“Tyler continues to grow with each outing,” Pitching Coach Matt Reed said. “Kyle came in and stayed consistent in relief and made quality pitches to keep the Muhlenburg batters off balance. Hunter and Ray were then able to come in and make quality pitches as well.”

Clarks Summit Recap

The Defenders took an early one-run lead before Greensboro tied the game in the bottom half of the inning on a Matt Denham single to centerfield.

Greensboro then took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning following a Noah Walker single that scored Scotty McGuire from third base.

After Greensboro established the one-run lead, Clarks Summit took a 3-2 lead with two runs in the fifth inning before the Pride responded with two runs of their own to regain the lead.

Derek Jarr plated Daniel Efrid with a double to left-center field before Denham recorded his second RBI of the contest with a single to left field.

Greensboro then added five runs in the sixth inning before scoring the game’s final two runs in the seventh inning. Mac Graham, Dallas Ducote, McGuire, Rodriguez, and Jaar each had at least one RBI each over the two-inning span.

McGuire, Graham, and Efird each had a team-high three hits, while Jaar, Denham, and Walker had two hits each.

“The biggest thing that we can take away from the game is the adjustments our guys were able to make at the plate as the game went on,” Hitting Coach Chris Fenisey said. “We still have areas that we need to address but being able to make in game adjustments is a step in the right direction.”

Zach Branon was credited with the win after coming in relief of Brayden King. Kristopher Taveras, Drew Paice, Hunter Wolfington, and Kameron Keim combined to pitch four innings of no-hit baseball.

The Pride baseball team will return to action this weekend when they host Methodist University in a three-game USA South Athletic Conference set. For more information on Greensboro College baseball, continue to follow www.greensborocollegesports.com.