King, Rupp Pile Hits in Game One as Greensboro College Pride Split Doubleheader with Mary Baldwin

GREENSBORO, N.C.—Greensboro College’s Braxton Rupp hit four-for-four while Brayden King hit three-for-three in game one of Wednesday afternoon’s USA South Athletic Conference (USA South) doubleheader with Mary Baldwin University as the Pride split the windy doubleheader. The Pride took game one, 13-2, while the Fighting Squirrels took the seven-inning nightcap, 8-1.

The Pride posted a three-run rally in the bottom of the second inning when Jamar Ellis posted his first of three RBI in game one on a ground out to spark the rally. Josh Pittman and Michael Garvey built the Pride’s two-run rally in the bottom of the third inning as both batters posted RBI-doubles with two outs and represented two of the three doubles hit by the Pride in the inning.

Scotty McGuire and King built the Pride’s two-run fourth inning. McGuire connected on a RBI-single after Rupp’s one-out double. King recorded the second out of the inning on his lone non-hit plate appearance of the game when he hit a sacrifice fly to center field. Rupp’s lone RBI of the day came on a two-out single to left field in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Pride posted runs in every inning of the first contest but the eighth inning as the Pride cruised to victory.

Mary Baldwin caught momentum in game two as the Fighting Squirrels opened up the first three innings with a 2-0 lead. Mary Baldwin then used a six-run rally in the top of the fourth inning to distance themselves from the Pride. Justis Crawley and Jacob Cude each connected on RBI-doubles to spark the rally in the fourth frame.

The Pride’s lone run game two came in the bottom of the sixth inning off the bat of Aaron Smith. With Hunter Curtis at third base, Smith grounded out on the first-base side to bring Curtis home for the second out of the inning. The Fighting Squirrels held off a Pride rally in the bottom of the seventh inning to split the doubleheader.

Two of King’s hits were doubles while Rupp posted a double for one of his four hits. Garvey finished two-for-three with a double and two RBI. Curtis collected an RBI with a two-for-four game-one effort. Curtis was the lone Pride batter with multiple-hits in game two, batting two-for-three.

Noah Kessler led the Fighting Squirrels at the plate in game one, hitting three-for-four. Crawley led Mary Baldwin in game two with a two-for-three effort with an RBI.

Cole Cooper (3-3) took the win for the Pride in game one with a five-inning effort where struck out three batters and walked two. Peyton Ebel and Alex Trepper each teamed up to yield only four hits combined in four innings of relief. Dominic Colosimo (1-1) took the game-two loss for the Pride in a three and two-third innings effort where he struck out two.

Joseph Castrilli (0-1) took the game-one loss for Mary Baldwin in a four-inning effort where he struck out two batters and walked three while giving up eight runs (four earned) on nine hits. Ty Webster (1-0) took the game-two win with a complete-game effort where he fanned four and walked two.

The Pride returns for their final USA South home series this weekend against William Peace University. The series opener, originally scheduled to take place Saturday, has now been moved up to Friday due to the threat of rain on Saturday. Friday’s doubleheader will now start at 3 p.m. at Ted Leonard Park.

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Courtesy of Bryan Jones, Greensboro College Sports Information Director