Baseball Completes Huge Comeback, Outlasts Southern Virginia In Ten Innings
Clutch moments abundant in nonconference finale
from Bryce Johnson, Director of Athletic Communications at Guilford College
BUENA VISTA, Va. – Down to their final out, Christian Chinen (Honolulu, Hawaii) split the gap in left-center, as Aaron Williams (Mocksville, N.C.) motored all the way around from first to level the score, erasing what was once a six-run deficit before the Guilford College baseball team (22-14, 8-12 ODAC) completed the job in extra innings, besting Southern Virginia University (13-21, 9-9 USA South), 13-10, in ten frames at Parry McCluer High School Baseball Field on Wednesday afternoon.
The Quakers complete the regular season with a robust, 14-2 record outside of Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play, a number that will finish as the second-best in the conference, trailing just the league-leading University of Lynchburg. In addition, they up their wins total to 22 on the year, their most since 2017.
Making his first start of the season seemingly ages before the contest’s conclusion, Stratton Barwick (Siler City, N.C.) did not factor into the decision, settling down after the first frame to last 4.0 innings. He allowed five hits against no walks and five strikeouts and three runs did cross the plate against him, although only two of them were earned. Roughly 24 hours after throwing 50 pitches against Roanoke on Tuesday, Jackson Marcellus (Chapel Hill, N.C.) entered, finished the ninth and, while things got interesting, he pitched a scoreless tenth to garner the victory and improve to 6-0 by striking out two against a hit and two walks over 1.2 innings. A couple more of the seven pitchers deployed by GC on the day, shoutouts to Connor Sinclair (North Augusta, S.C.) and Hayden Sekanick (Tampa, Fla.) are also in order, as they also had scoreless outings on the mound.
It was a parade of arms who were deployed by the Knights in this one as well, with Javari Christopher going the first 2.0 frames. He did not qualify for the win after allowing just a single baserunner, on a hit, during his time atop the hill. Instead, after Carson Bybee blew the save in the eighth and ninth, Harrison Moore allowed three runs on three hits and a walk in the tenth to take the defeat and drop to 0-7.
Grayson Tudor (Reidsville, N.C.) had a huge game, going a career-best 4-of-6, coming just a home run short of the cycle, while scoring twice and driving in three. Ryne Rodrigues (Summerfield, N.C.) was seemingly always on base, working a trio of walks and going 1-for-2 at the plate on top of hitting what ended up as the game-winning sacrifice fly. He scored twice and drove in two. Rylan Smith (Archdale, N.C.) doubled and singled to go 2-of-6 with two runs scored and two driven in and Josh Howard (Salem, Va.) also collected a pair of RBIs. Skyler Dark (Pleasant Garden, N.C.) scored twice after reaching via two walks and two hits in the game.
A four-batter grouping hoarded nine of SVU’s 11 hits, with the other Knights combining to go just 2-for-20, but drew five walks to keep the line moving. Seth Lloyd went 2-for-5 with a double, scoring twice and driving in three. Stockton Hall went 3-of-6 with a run scored and one driven in while Garrett Stauffer doubled on his 2-of-4 evening, scoring twice and driving in one. Zack Geertsen finished 2-of-5 with a walk and a run scored and Ryan Farris sprinkled in a double and two RBIs for the hosts.
The Knights scored right away against Barwick, although it was not entirely the lefty’s fault. Lloyd and Geertsen got consecutive one-out singles, but it did not seem like a major threat especially after the second out was recorded. Stauffer followed with just a soft chopper that just found the right spot for an RBI-single, though, then Farris lined one to left that fell in front of Jordan Burrough (Greensboro, N.C.) then bounced away for what was ruled a RBI-double and an error, with two runs scoring on the play to make the score 3-0.
Things calmed for the remainder of the early innings until GC got on the board in the top of the fourth. Rodrigues drew a two-out walk ahead of consecutive singles off the bats of Tudor and Howard resulted in a tally on the board. They got another one back the following frame as well, as Gavin Fleming (Gibsonville, N.C.) turned the lineup over with an infield hit before a Dark free pass. Ethan George (Burlington, N.C.) sacrificed them up, Smith hit a grounder to bring the lead run in and the score was narrowed to 3-2.
Continuing their strong work in the middle frames, Guilford seized the lead in the sixth. Rodrigues worked his second free pass, this one of the leadoff variety, before Tudor split the gap in right-center to put two in scoring position virtually right away. RBI groundouts by Howard and Burrough did the trick after that, flipping the one-run deficit to a lead by that number. Unfortunately, they would not get the shutdown inning they wanted, as Hall singled, Stauffer doubled, and Farris tied the score at four apiece with a groundout against Jack Ratliff (Greensboro, N.C.). The right-hander then hit Marcelino Leonardo Jr. with a pitch and walked Robert Stempin to load the bases, prompting a change. Devin Tonkins (Greensboro, N.C.) entered, but could not stop the bleeding, issuing consecutive walks forcing in runs before another call to the bullpen brought in Reese Baker (Ashland, Va.) Lloyd greeted him with a bases-clearing double followed by knocks off the bats of Geetsen and Hall, before the guests finally escaped the inning with the score 10-4.
The Quakers proceeded to work their way back into the ballgame. In the seventh, Dark took a walk before back-to-back first-to-third singles by George and Smith produced a run. Rodrigues doubled in another two batters later and Tudor made it a three-run game with a productive groundout. Carter Blum (McLeansville, N.C.) roped a pinch-hit double then Dark singled and a George sacrifice fly shaved another run off the deficit in the eighth before Guilford completed the comeback in the ninth.
Another Rodrigues base on balls, this one with one out, gave GC a baserunner before the game nearly ended when Tudor rolled one over to short, but beat the possible two-ball at first for a fielder’s choice. Down to their final out, they got clutch knocks from a pair of pinch hitters when Williams kept the game alive with a single, then Chinen seized the moment, scoring both runs with his big swing, tying the game at ten-all. Sekanick, who threw a scoreless eighth, did walk the first Knight he faced in the home half before getting the first out, albeit one that advanced the runner. Marcellus came on and fanned the first man he faced, got some help with a great diving play by Smith on a grounder, and we got free baseball in Buena Vista.
Wasting little time in extras, Dark led off with a clean single to right then George tried to sacrifice bunt him up, and initially did while also benefiting from a throwaway. However, he ended up getting called out for traversing out of the baseline, nullifying the sacrifice. It did not end up mattering, as Smith bashed a ground-rule double to center and Chris Shoemaker (Winston-Salem, N.C.), who had pinch hit to leadoff the ninth, was intentionally walked to load the bases and get the force play at the plate. Rodrigues executed with a sacrifice fly and Tudor granted insurance runs with a triple down the line in left. Marcellus made things interesting, loading the bases on two walks and a single, but polished it off nonetheless as GC completed the thrilling, 13-10 victory in ten innings.
Guilford heads into their regular season finale looking to take care of business and clinch a spot in the ODAC tournament during their doubleheader opposite Randolph-Macon College next, on Saturday, April 26. They will celebrate their Senior Day pregame before battling the Yellow Jackets starting at 12:00 PM.
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