Joseph Marvin: Assistant Sports Information Director
BREVARD, N.C. - The Brevard College Tornados Baseball team (6-13, 1-9 USAS) picked up its first USA South Conference win of 2019 in emphatic fashion on Saturday afternoon, knocking off the 11th-ranked Huntingdon Hawks (15-3, 7-3 USAS) in game one of a doubleheader, 2-1, at Gil Coan Field.
BC's thrilling game one victory was followed by a tightly-contested second game that the Huntingdon Hawks earned a 5-1 victory in.
Brevard's victory on Saturday brought their 2019 win total to six games, just one shy of the team's 2018 total.
GAME ONE
BC sophomore Ben Melton (1-1, 3.16 ERA) made just the second start of his Tornado career, working a stellar eight innings of three-hit, one run ball. Melton didn't allow a single earned run in his start while striking out three Huntingdon batters.
Freshman RHP Kyle Williams came into the game in the ninth inning, shutting the door on a potential Huntingdon rally to earn his first career save.
Brevard's pitching was backed up by clutch defensive plays throughout the contest.
Jack Atkinson earned the start in center field for the first game, tallying a game-high nine putouts. With one out and a runner on second base in the top of the ninth inning, Atkinson saved the victory for Brevard, laying out for a diving catch to retire Huntingdon's Jake Elrod.
Huntingdon's Carden Mellown turned in a quality outing of his own, pitching six innings of six-hit, two-run ball.
The Tornados jumped on the score sheet early, as Ryan Roon's RBI single scored Jason Jucker, giving BC an early 1-0 advantage.
Melton carried a no-hitter through four and two-thirds innings before Huntingdon's Colton Clark singled through the left side, earning the Hawks' first hit.
BC extended its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning when Donny Carsillo hit a leadoff double to right center field, which was followed by a JJ Wilkes RBI single.
A fielding error cost the Tornados in the seventh inning, as a leadoff Huntingdon batter reached on an error. This was followed by an RBI double, as the Hawks plated their first run of the game to cut BC's lead to 2-1.
The Hawks strived to continue their late rally, putting a runner on with two outs in the top of the eighth inning after a single. Brett Burchett gunned down the Huntingdon baserunner, catching Heath Haskins stealing to end the Hawks' threat, as the Tornados clung to a 2-1 lead.
Williams came on to close things out in the top half of the ninth inning. Despite a walk and a wild pitch, Williams and the Tornados clinched a monumental 2-1 victory over nationally-ranked Huntingdon by retiring the next three batters.
GAME TWO
Freshman Matthew Scavotto got the starting nod for the Tornados in the back end of Saturday's twin bill, pitching a quality five innings. Scavotto pitched six innings of one-run ball, striking out five batters including the first four that he faced.
Roon highlighted the Tornados with a multi-hit performance, going 2-for-4 in game two. Jucker tallied BC's lone RBI, while Atkinson scored BC's lone run.
Huntingdon ace Brooks Freeman (5-1) went eight innings, allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out six Tornados.
The contest was deadlocked through four frames before the Hawks scored their first run in the top of the fifth on an RBI single.
Huntingdon plated three more runs in the sixth frame against two different BC pitchers, holding a 4-0 lead heading into the seventh inning. The Hawks' fifth run of game two came in the top of the seventh inning before the Tornados answered back with a run of its own in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Jucker singled home Atkinson.
Huntingdon held off any potential BC rally in the bottom of the ninth to split Saturday afternoon's doubleheader with the Tornados.
The series heads to a rubber match tomorrow as Brevard and Huntingdon square off at 12 p.m. at Gil Coan Field in a Sunday matinee.
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