LEXINGTON, Va. –Washington and Lee University got winning ninth-inning hits in both games of Saturday’s Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) baseball doubleheader to sweep visiting Guilford College.
Luke Deary’s one-out double in the home ninth plated the winning run in the Generals’ 2-1 opening game victory. Jonathan Stutts’ two-out RBI single in the nightcap scored Mike Decembrino and gave Washington and Lee (10-8, 4-2 ODAC) a 4-3 triumph.
The setbacks snapped Guilford’s three-game winning streak and dropped the Quakers’ record to 12-10 (2-4 ODAC).
Justin Pittman’s (Archdale, N.C./Trinity) run-scoring single in the fourth gave Guilford a 1-0 lead in the opener, but Generals’ starter Pat Smith (1-0) did not yield another run. He retired the side in order in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. The Quakers threatened with leadoff singles in the ninth, but Smith stranded the runners on second and third.
After Guilford starter Will James threw seven shutout innings, Washington and Lee tied the game in the eighth on Stutts’ RBI single in the eighth off of reliever Ryan Lindsay (2-1). A one-out Lindsay error in the ninth, followed by a hit batsman, set the stage for Deary, whose double scored C.J. Thompson from second.
Smith (1-0) fanned six, walked two and scattered four hits for his first win of the season. Stutts had three of the Generals’ seven hits in the opener.
Stutts had two more hits in the nightcap, including the game-winner in the ninth. Guilford reliever Micah Winterstein (0-1) issued a one-out walk to Keegan Dolan, but picked him off for the inning’s second out. However, he also walked the next batter, Decembrino, who stole second before scoring on Stutts’ single.
The hit made a winner out of reliever Jake Rudolph (1-0), who induced an inning-ending double play in the Guilford ninth.
Alex Mait paced Washington and Lee’s offense with three hits, including a fourth-inning single that scored the game’s first run. He also singled and scored in Generals’ the two-run seventh, which tied the game at 3-3.
Zack Montalbano and Ben Anderson both had two hits for Guilford.
The Quakers host Tufts University Monday (3/21) at 3:00 p.m.