ASHLAND, Va. – Freshman Jeffrey Butler tripled and scored the game-winner in the opener and sophomore Rick Spiers tossed a one-hitter in the nightcap as the Randolph-Macon baseball team swept a doubleheader from RPI Sunday on Hugh Stephens Field at Estes Park. The Yellow Jackets (6-0) took the seven-inning opener 4-3 and won the second contest 14-1 against the Engineers (1-2) in a game that was called after five innings due to rain.
R-MC and RPI were tied at 3-3 in the seventh of Game 1. Butler lined a ball to left to lead off the inning. As the throw came in towards second, Butler kept running and motored around second into third for a triple. Junior Jordan Schmeer singled to left center to give the victory to the Yellow Jackets.
R-MC started the scoring in the bottom of the second in the first game. Spiers had a leadoff infield single, moved to second on a groundout by junior Stuart Brown and scored on a base hit by junior Jay Patti to give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead.
RPI struck for three runs in the top of the 3rd, highlighted by a two-run double to the gap in right center by
Sam Lawrence.
Matt Lawrence had an RBI-groundout to open the scoring for the Engineers.
The Yellow Jackets answered in the bottom of the frame. SeniorMitchell Keeler singled to start the inning and advanced to second on a base hit by senior Travis Lodge. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch and Keeler scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Cole Migliorini to make it a 3-2 contest.
Freshman starter Colin Selby worked out of a major jam in the top of the fifth. A base hit and a hit-and-run single put runners on the corners with no outs. Facing the 3-4-5 hitters, Selby got a strikeout, a flyout and a groundout to first to strand both runners.
The Yellow Jackets tied it in the bottom of the fifth. Butler led off with single, stole second, and was sacrificed to third by Schmeer. Keeler hit a sharp grounder to a drawn-in third baseman, allowing Butler to score to make it 3-3.
Sophomore Christian Cok pitched a perfect seventh with a pair of strikeouts to record the victory, his first of the season.
Butler finished with two hits and two runs, while Lodge reached three times with a hit and two walks.
Spiers (1-0) allowed a solo homer to
Thomas Desmond in the fourth of Game 2 for the lone hit for the Engineers. He walked two and struck out six.
R-MC scored single runs in the first two innings before exploding for 10 in the third. The Yellow Jackets sent 16 to the plate in the third. Junior Herminio Azor has a single, a two-run double and scored twice in the inning, while senior Michael Trentham had a pair of RBI singles in the frame.
Lodge went 4 for 4 in the nightcap and reached base all seven at-bats in the doubleheader. Azor, Keeeler and Trentham each had two hits, two runs and two RBI in Game 2.
