Run Prevention Keys Well-Rounded Baseball Victory Over Carolina
Errorless defense, Barwick’s left arm make early scoring stand in win
from Bryce Johnson, Director of Athletic Communications at Guilford College
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Scoring three in the first before the pitching, notably from Stratton Barwick (Siler City, N.C.), and defense took care of the rest, the Guilford College baseball team (19-12, 6-10 ODAC) completed a nonconference victory, 7-3, over Carolina University (8-28, 1-5 CAC) at Mando Field at Rich Park on Tuesday afternoon.
Deploying an opener on this day, the Quakers sent Devin Tonkins (Greensboro, N.C.) to toe the slab at the outset on this afternoon, pitching a flawless first inning that featured a pair of strikeouts but did not factor into the decision. Upping his record to 1-1, Barwick finished on the victorious end of the decision by way of the most-effective stipulation. Over a career-long 5.0 innings in relief, he faced the minimum over the first 4.2 innings of his outing before CU figured him out and he finished permitting two runs, both earned, on four hits, fanning three without a walk. Hayden Sekanick (Tampa, Fla.) allowed a double, but struck out two over the final 1.1 innings to clinch his first collegiate save.
For the Bruins, it was Matthew Kelley who got the ball to start things, lasting the first 3.0 innings allowing five runs, all earned, on eight hits and a singular walk against a strikeout, suffering the loss to fall to 0-1.
A quartet of batters recorded two hits for Guilford with Collin McGuire (Wilkesboro, N.C.) standing out, reaching in all five of his plate appearances going 2-for-2 with a double, a walk, getting hit by a pitch twice, coming around to cross the plate on two occasions while driving in one. Chase Wade (Archdale, N.C.) finished 2-of-5 with a triple, scoring twice and driving in one. Skyler Dark (Pleasant Garden, N.C.) had two singles and a walk, stealing a base and scoring once while Ethan George (Burlington, N.C.) was the final Quaker with multiple hits, going 2-of-3 with a base on balls.
Limited to just seven hits as a team, more-than half of them came off the bats of Paxton Tucker of Nick Franklin for the hosts. The former scored once and drove in a run, connecting on one double while the later had a pair of two-baggers, driving in one for CU. Daniel Gonzalez added an RBI-double while Alex Noll doubled and scored and Antonio Biggers was the final Bruin to score as a pinch runner following an Alexis Fontanez triple.
Guilford staked themselves to a swift advantage in the top of the first. Dark led off with an infield hit then was sacrificed to second by Ethan George (Burlington, N.C.). Rylan Smith (Archdale, N.C.) then opened the scoring, ripping a single into center to give the guests a lead they would never relinquish just three batters in. Wade followed by tucking one inside rightfield line that he legged out for a three-bagger and McGuire picked him up with an opposite-field single to stake the Quakers to a 3-0 lead before a Bruin had picked up a bat.
Tonkins tossed a one-two-three inning in the home half before the GC offense added another in the second via a Gavin Fleming (Gibsonville, N.C.) double to turnover the lineup, coming home when Dark reached on an error but Carolina got on the board in the home half. Fontanez tripled down the line in right off Griffin Icenhower (Kernersville, N.C.) and was run for by Biggers who was chased in by a Franklin double, all with one out. Icenhower avoided further trouble, however, he put himself back in harm’s way in the third. After the Quakers pieced together a run on a Wade single, McGuire double, and a Sam Melton (Cartersville, Ga.) sacrifice fly, the senior southpaw walked the second, third and fifth batters of the home half, with a pair of outs mixed in, to load the bases. Barwick came on and fanned Fontanez to keep the score where it was with GC in the driver’s seat, 5-1.
While they did piece together another add-on run in the fifth when McGuire got plunked, Melton singled, and Josh Howard (Salem, Va.) reached on an E6, with McGuire scoring on the play, Guilford just could not get the big hit to blow the game open in the middle innings. They hit into a quartet of inning-ending double plays, limiting the offense and curbing their runners left on base total to nine through the first eight innings, including seven in scoring position, although it could have been more.
It did not matter, however, as Barwick was busy mowing down the Bruins on the other side, or so was the case until the bottom of the eighth. The lefty got the first two outs on either side of a Noll double, but he just could not quite get that last out of the frame. Consecutive RBI-doubles off the bats of Tucker and Gonzalez narrowed the margin, but Sekanick would enter and induce a rollover by Fontanez to maintain the lead. The Quakers added an insurance run in the top of the ninth when McGuire walked ahead of consecutive pinch-hit singles by Ryne Rodrigues (Summerfield, N.C.) and Aaron Williams (Mocksville, N.C.), extending their lead before Sekanick polished things off in the ninth, navigating a leadoff double to complete the game with a final score of 7-3.
GC hits the road shooting up Route-29 to clash with the Cougars of Averett University tomorrow, April 16th for a crucial Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) matchup beginning at 3:00 PM.
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