BREVARD, N.C. – Junior infielder Daiquon Davenport hit a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning as the Brevard College baseball team (1-6, 0-1 USAS) opened its 2020 home and conference schedule at Gil Coan Field in the Gil Coan Memorial Series on Friday afternoon.
The Tornados dropped the contest, 11-2, to the visiting Piedmont College Lions (4-3, 1-0 USAS) – who are the defending USA South Baseball regular-season champions.
The contest marked the first at Gil Coan Field since the passing of its namesake, Brevard College alumnus and legend Gil Coan Sr., '41. To honor his legacy, BC's home-opening series this weekend has been named the "Gil Coan Memorial Series."
Davenport went 1-of-3 on the afternoon, launching a solo shot over the left-field wall in the bottom of the second frame to give the Tornados a 1-0 lead. Freshman Cade Stecher drove home JJ Wilkes to extend BC's advantage to a 2-0 margin, while Brett Burchett, Donny Carsillo, Jason Jucker, and Wilkes racked up hits.
Senior right-hander Bryce Foster (0-1) earned the start for Brevard, logging 2.1 innings of work while striking out three batters. Ryan Terte and Alex Winchester each logged scoreless outings of relief.
Piedmont was lifted by an eight-inning outing by starting left-hander Sam Carpenter (1-1). Carpenter let up two runs on six hits, striking out 11 batters. Four Piedmont hitters recorded multi-hit performances, led by Cody Ballstadt's three-hit day.
The Lions struck for five runs in the third frame followed by a three-spot in the fourth inning to help pull away from the host Tornados. Brevard fell victim to seven costly errors for the second-consecutive contest.
Foster worked around a two-out throwing error in the top of the first inning, using a key strikeout to preserve a 0-0 score. Piedmont's Carpenter worked a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half, using two strikeouts to send the game to the second inning scoreless.
BC's senior right-hander from Brevard High School retired Piedmont in order in the top of the second, striking out PC's Ballstadt to send the Tornados back to the plate. With one out, Davenport sent his first homer as a Tornado over the left-field wall to give his team an early lead, 1-0. After a Piedmont error, a Wilkes single, and a Burchett fielder's choice, Stecher stroked a single through the left side of the infield to push BC's advantage to a 2-0 margin. Carpenter halted the Tornado scoring stretch by forcing a groundout, sending the contest to the third inning.
Following back-to-back walks to start the frame, Piedmont's Harrison Trawick lifted an RBI double over the head of BC right fielder Christian Ezzell, getting the Lions on the board. An errant throw on a sacrifice fly brought Piedmont's second run around to score, while the Lions took the lead on a wild pitch. Two one-out RBI singles put Piedmont up 5-2 before Jakob Dennis forced the inning's final two outs.
Piedmont's offensive success continued in the top half of the fourth inning, scoring three runs off two hits and a pair of Tornado errors. The Tornados looked to answer in the bottom half of the frame but stranded two runners to end the inning.
Freshman Reid Ziomek came in to pitch in relief in the top of the fifth inning, working around a hit and an error to toss a scoreless frame. Winchester came in relief with two outs in the sixth inning following two Piedmont runs to toss an inning and a third of shutout ball. Terte worked around two hit-by-pitch batters and a walk to toss a scoreless eighth, while Massey limited the damage in the ninth inning by allowing just a run.
Piedmont's Carpenter was relieved in the bottom of the ninth inning by Nathan Boyce, who sat down the Tornados in order to end the contest and wrap up the Lions' 11-2 victory.
Brevard will continue the Gil Coan Memorial Series by facing Piedmont on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Gil Coan Field.
The game will be played alongside Coan's memorial service, which will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday at First United Methodist Church, 325 N. Broad St., Brevard, NC. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests gifts to support the baseball program at Brevard College, 1 College Drive, Brevard, NC 28712. To make a donation to the Brevard College baseball program online, please click here.
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-BC-