BREVARD, N.C.- After its thrilling, come-from-behind victory over Montreat on Wednesday afternoon, Brevard baseball is set to face Piedmont in a three-game series at Gil Coan Field starting on Friday.
Brevard (6-15) won their fourth straight game after storming back from being down eight runs in the game against Montreat on a walk-off RBI from Joseph Nelms. The win also marks the third game this season the Tornados have won by virtue of a walk-off.
SCOUTING PIEDMONT
The Lions head into the series 14-8 on the season and are currently second in the USA South Conference standings, only behind Methodist. In their most recent series, the Lions took two out of three games against Huntingdon, with both of their wins coming in walk-off fashion. On the season, Piedmont ranks second in the USA South Conference in RBI (151) and third in home runs (16), led individually by Brady Ballstadt and Andrew Burden, each with three homers and 27 RBI. The Lions pitching staff is led by Sam Carpenter, who ranks third in the conference with 43 strikeouts.
BLACK CONTINUES STRONG SEASON
Senior pitcher Drake Black was only able to complete 1.0 inning of work against Montreat, but he still leads the USA South Conference in strikeouts with 64. Black, along with teammate Tyler Timms are the only pitchers in the conference to throw multiple complete games (five and two, respectively).
YOUNG BATS SHOW OUT
On the offensive side of the plate, 10 out of the top 11 leaders in RBI on the season are either freshmen or sophomores, with first-year Christian Ezzell leading the charge with 18. Behind him are sophomores Ryan Roon and Nelms, who have each put up 12 RBI on the season. Ezzell and fellow freshman Mikey Mejias are the only two players to record a home run for the Tornados this season (four and one, respectively).
KEEPING STREAKS ALIVE
Along with the four-game winning streak, Brevard has three players with hitting streaks as Ezzell and Roon have each recorded at least one base-hit in the last five games, while Nelms follows closely behind them with four consecutive games with a hit. Sophomore Donny Carsillo ranks fourth on the team in on-base percentage (.390, min. of 50 at-bats) and has reached first base at least once in the past nine games.
First pitch between the Tornados and the Lions will be thrown at 3:00 p.m. on Friday.
