Baseball Takes Pair of Tight Defeats at Hampden-Sydney
Ricigliano and Barwick with impressive outings on the mound despite losses
from Bryce Johnson, Director of Athletic Communications
HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. – Hitting the road for Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play for the first time this season, the Guilford College baseball team (11-3, 2-2 ODAC) battled in a pair of close contests, but ultimately were swept by Hampden-Sydney College (9-9, 3-3 ODAC), 3-1 and 10-9 at Yank Bernier Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Quakers got a quality start from Marcello Ricigliano (Kernersville, N.C.) in the first game as the righty distributed six hits and two walks across 6.0 innings with H-SC getting a pair of runs, both earned, against him although his effort was squandered and he ended up on the hook for the loss to fall to 0-1. That is because Noah Lewis was excellent for the Tigers permitting just a single earned run on six hits and a walk, fanning 15 in a complete game effort to improve to 1-0.
GC batters managed just six hits and seven men to reach base safely in game one although Rylan Smith (Archdale, N.C.) did not have trouble. The only man to reach three times safely for either team, he rocketed a pair of doubles and drew a walk scoring a run in a 2-3 game. Ryne Rodrigues (Summerfield, N.C.) had the lone Quaker RBI and Skyler Dark (Pleasant Garden, N.C.) also hit a double in the contest.
Hampden-Sydney enjoyed a little more offensive success but were still restricted to eight hits as a collective. Jack Wilson and Chase Sanford were the only ones with multiple knocks and owned identical lines going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Ian Martin also went 1-of-4 with a two-bagger, scoring once, driving in one, and stealing a pair of bases. Jaxon Masterson owned the only other Tiger RBI.
In stark contrast to game one, neither starter escaped the fourth inning in the late contest with Jacob Ray (Burlington, N.C.) going just 3.1 innings allowing seven runs, all earned, on seven hits and three walks, striking out three but eventually ended up off the hook. Gavin Gregory was not much better, although his defense let him down some. Across 3.0 innings he allowed five runs, three earned, on six hits and a walk, fanning three. Instead, it came down to the bullpens and despite throwing really well, Stratton Barwick (Siler City, N.C.) suffered the defeat, going 2.2 innings, keeping GC in it and allowing the comeback, but the Tigers got an unearned run against him on two hits against three strikeouts to take the loss and fall to 0-1. Alex Fitz-Hugh entered and blew the save, but got the win instead allowing two unearned runs on two hits, fanning five across 2.1 innings to get the win and improve to 2-1.
Grayson Tudor (Reidsville, N.C.) had a fine game two going 3-for-5 with a double scoring once and driving in one. At the top of the lineup, Carter Blum (McLeansville, N.C.) went 2-of-5 and scored thrice while Dark doubled and scored two times. Smith and Collin McGuire (Wilkesboro, N.C.) drove in two runs each with the former hitting a double in the late contest.
The top of the Tiger lineup was super-productive in the second game. Wilson went 2-of-4 with a walk, a homer, and three runs scored. Grayson Harris crossed the plate twice going 2-of-4 with a double and a walk and Matthew Arnold also had two knocks with a run scored and one driven in. Sanford was the real catalyst, going 4-of-5 with a double and a triple, scoring twice and driving in four in the win.
GAME 1
Marcello Ricigliano (Kernersville, N.C.) and Noah Lewis each had some of their best stuff on the bump, absolutely shutting down the opposition over the first five and a half innings. The Quakers top scoring chance in this span came right away with Skyler Dark (Pleasant Garden, N.C.) doubling to leadoff the ballgame but he was stranded. They got runners to second in both the second and fifth innings as well with outs on the board, but Lewis navigated them successfully. The Tigers got runners to third on a few occasions, but they could not breakthrough as a really good pitcher’s dual was developing.
Hampden-Sydney would break the stalemate in the home half of the sixth inning, however. Chase Sanford ripped a double to open the frame then Jake Moore worked a free pass with the fourth ball scooting just far enough away from Gabe De Cardenas (Orlando, Fla.) to allow Sanford to advance on the wild pitch. Ian Martin would bring the run home, taking Moore’s spot with a fielder’s choice before swiping a couple of bags and crossing the plate on a Jaxon Masterson single into center, giving the hosts a 2-0 lead two-thirds of the way through.
H-SC scraped together an insurance run in the eighth against Jackson Marcellus (Chapel Hill, N.C.) with Jack Wilson hitting a double to open the inning and taking third on a wild pitch. Marcellus induced the first two outs, and what would have been the third but a throwing error allowed Wilson to come home and extend the edge.
Still, the Quakers did what they have done all season to this point, and that is find ways to battle back at the plate as Rylan Smith (Archdale, N.C.) hit a one-out double in the ninth, advancing on a Chase Wade (Archdale, N.C.) groundout and scoring on a Ryne Rodrigues (Summerfield, N.C.) RBI-hit to bring the tying run to the plate in Carter Blum (McLeansville, N.C.), but he was retired and the Tigers took the early contest, 3-1.
GAME 2
The second game featured more runs in the first inning than the entire opening contest with Guilford seemingly riding some of that ninth inning momentum into the late game. Skyler Dark (Pleasant Garden, N.C.) and Carter Blum (McLeansville, N.C.) each reached on errors and both came around to score on a Rylan Smith (Archdale, N.C.) double to left-center as the guests seized a lead just three batters in. Grayson Tudor (Reidsville, N.C.) beat a bunt single and Ryne Rodrigues (Summerfield, N.C.) got Smith in with a knock to take a 3-0 lead before an out was recorded and while that is all they got GC still had the advantage. Hampden-Sydney responded in the bottom of the frame though, getting consecutive one-out singles and a Chase Sanford three-bagger to bring both in followed by an Ian Martin RBI groundout to equalize things.
The Quakers repeated their run-scoring effort in the second when Christian Chinen (Honolulu, Hawaii) took a free pass to get it going head of a Dark double inside the chalk in right. Blum brought home one with a groundout, Tudor the other with a hit and it was 5-3 good guys but again, the hosts responded. Jaxon Masterson and Jack Wilson singled on either side of the first out, then Grayson Harris drew a walk that should have loaded the bases but a throw-away by Josh Howard (Salem, Va.) allowed Masterson to score. Matthew Arnold later brought home Wilson on a sacrifice fly and the game was five-all through two.
Things would settle down for a while from there with a scoreless third before the Tigers grabbed the edge in the fifth when Wilson connected on a long-ball to left. Harris then doubled and came home on a Sanford hit to make it 7-5 before adding on singular add-on runs in the fifth and sixth.
Guilford would mount a comeback bid again, but this time they started earlier, in the seventh. Blum singled and Tudor doubled two batters later forcing a pitching change as Alex Fitz-Hugh entered for Sterling Austin, who had been lights out to that point. Collin McGuire (Wilkesboro, N.C.) singled in both men to make things interesting at 9-7.
In the eighth, the Quakers leveled the tallies, straddling the first out, Howard got hit by a pitch and Blum singled before both moved up 90-feet on a wild pitch. Smith stepped in and hit a grounder to short but Masterson spiked the throw, eating up Harris in the process. With good, heads-up baserunning, Blum was able to cross the plate from second on the play to tie the game at nine apiece.
Unfortunately, H-SC got the lead back in the bottom of the eighth with Sanford doubling to right, but no one successfully cut off the throw back into the infield as it trickled to the middle of the diamond allowing him to take third. Martin would tuck a single inside of third to score the go-ahead run that would stand for the Tigers in a 10-9 win.
It will be back to the friendly confines of McBane Field next for Guilford as they will host crosstown rival, Greensboro College on Tuesday, March 18th at 2:00 PM.
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