College Baseball Final – Guilford 4, Averett 0

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College’s Eric Yost threw seven and two-third shut-out innings as the Quakers cruised to a Sunday afternoon victory over Averett University, 4-0.

Rocco Wilcox sparked the first Quakers’ (6-2) rally after two easy innings for Yost. With one out and runners at first and second base, Wilcox smacked a double into the left-center field gap to claim an early lead. The Quakers traded outs for runs in the next inning when Logan Washle hit a ground ball down the first-base line and Sammy Gerald also grounded out to the first base side to double the Quakers’ lead.

The runs provided support for Yost, who held the Cougars to just two hits in the first four innings while fanning five batters and walking only one. Yost faced the minimum in a quick top half of the fourth inning where he posted a strikeout and induced two ground outs.

He repeated his efforts in the fifth inning, fanning two in the frame and extended the streak to three-straight frames of facing the minimum one inning later as Joe Metts caught a foul ball while running face-first into the press box window next to the home dugout. Corey Wall broke up Yost’s stretch of recording 12-consecutive outs with a single up the middle as Averett (1-6) faced a two-out situation in the top of the seventh inning. Adam George added another single to place runners on first and second base, but Yost rallied to strike out Sawyer Smith to end the inning.

The Quakers’ fielders backed up Yost in the later innings as Josh Shepherd dove left, snagged a sharp ground ball at shortstop and rocketed a throw to first for a key first out in the top of the eighth frame. Ryan Hill (Asheboro, N.C./Southwestern Randolph) came in relief of Yost with two outs and runners on first and second and induced a fielder’s choice to second base to exit the jam. Hill closed the book in the ninth inning by striking out the final two batters to seal the win.

Yost (1-1) finished with a career-high nine strikeouts in his first shutout effort as a Quakers. Hill totaled one and two-third innings, facing the minimum throughout his outing.

Wilcox led Guilford’s bats with a three-for-four effort with a double and two RBI. Mitchell Stumpo was the remaining Quakers’ bat with a multi-hit afternoon, batting two-for-three with a double.

Cody Johnson (1-1) took the loss for Averett throwing six innings and walking one batter. Matt Tuggle threw the final two innings, surrendering just one hit.

The Quakers continue their homestand Wednesday, hosting Ferrum College for a 3 p.m. contest.