HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. – Borja Jones-Berasaluce (Newton, Mass./Newton North) scattered seven hits and the Quakers banged out 18 hits in Guilford College’s 13-1 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) baseball win at Hampden-Sydney College Saturday. The win salvaged a split of the ODAC twinbill after the Tigers’ 4-1 victory in the opener.
John Macon Smith (Greensboro, N.C./Western Guilford (Western Carolina) hit his team-leading seventh homer and drove in four in the nightcap. D.J. Philips and Kent Peterson both had three hits to help the Quakers end a three-game losing skid. Phillips and Peterson had RBI hits in the first inning and Jordan Slate (Lexington, N.C./North Davidson) added an RBI single in the second to stake the Quakers (10-8, 2-2 ODAC) to an early 3-0 lead against Tigers’ starter Luke Rabiej (0-2).
Hampden-Sydney scored its run in the fourth inning on Erick Herrmann’s RBI single in the fourth. Berasaluce yielded only three hits and only one Tigers’ base runner reached second the rest of the way. He fanned five and walked one in his first complete game of the season and the longest outing of his career.
In the opener, Guilford score the game’s opening run, but left the bases loaded in the first inning, a harbinger of future scoring difficulties. Dan Nicoll (3-3) pitched into the seventh before Zach Whitaker relieved him and worked the final three innings for his first save of the year. Guilford had base runners in every inning and hits in seven, but managed just the first-inning run.
Guilford’s Will James (1-3) also worked out of trouble for most of his six innings. Colby Carter’s RBI single in the fourth tied the game at one and the Tigers’ went ahead with an unearned tally in the fifth. Patrick Kuhns and Jeff Gray hit back-to-back RBI singles in the eighth Hampden-Sydney added two insurance runs.
Gray was four-for-five and Andrew Tucker was three-for-four with two runs scored in the Tigers’ 15-hit attack.
Guilford’s Smith was three-for-three and walked intentionally to load the bases with one out in the seventh. One batter later, Whitaker got out of the jam by inducing Peterson into the Tigers’ second double-play of the game to end the inning.
Guilford hosts Eureka College Wednesday (3/14) at 2:00 p.m.
Hampden-Sydney – 4
Guilford – 1
Mar 10, 2012 at Hampden-Sydney, VA – Game 1
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Guilford............ 100 000 000 - 1 11 1 (9-8, 1-2 ODAC) Hampden-Sydney...... 000 110 02X - 4 15 0 (5-8, 1-0 ODAC) ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Guilford – Will James; Justin Morrison(7) and Gabe Mirabelli. Hampden-Sydney – Dan Nicoll; Zach Whitaker(7) and Patrick Kuhns.
Win-Dan Nicoll(3-3)
Save-Zach Whitaker(1)
Loss-Will James(1-3)
T-2:00
A-102
Weather: 50s and sunny
Dan Nicoll faced 2 batters in the 7th.
Game: GCB-17
Guilford – 13
Hampden-Sydney – 1
Mar 10, 2012 at Hampden-Sydney, VA – Game 2
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Guilford............ 210 022 330 - 13 18 0 (10-8, 2-2 ODAC) Hampden-Sydney...... 000 100 000 - 1 7 4 (5-9, 1-1 ODAC) ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Guilford – B. Jones-Berasaluce and Will Byrd. Hampden-Sydney – Luke Rabiej; Billy Nixon(5); Kyle McKay(7); Aaron Stidham(8); Nick Caporale(9) and Patrick Kuhns.
Win-B. Jones-Berasaluce(2-1)
Loss-Luke Rabiej(0-2)
T-2:30
A-102
HR GC – John Macon Smith.
Weather: 50s and sunny
Billy Nixon faced 2 batters in the 7th.
Game: GCB-18