BREVARD, N.C. – The Brevard College baseball team (6-2) swept USA South East Division preseason favorite William Peace University (8-5), mercy-ruling the Pacers in game one before using a seven-run sixth inning to cap a comeback victory in the second contest.
The pair of victories on Friday afternoon at Gil Coan Field give the Tornados six-consecutive victories, a mark that has only been reached one other time in the NCAA-era – in the 2012 season when the Tornados won 12-straight games – as Brevard's 2021 team has secured the second-longest win streak in the NCAA-era of BC baseball.
Brevard scored early and often in the first game of the seven-inning doubleheader set, posting eight runs through the first three innings before exploding for seven runs in the fourth frame to set up the mercy-rule victory.
Down 7-2 heading into the sixth inning of game number two, the Tornado offense caught fire, scoring seven runs in a thrilling inning of baseball to take a 9-7 lead. Freshman outfielder Logan Clark drilled an RBI-triple to the opposite field, then scored on a throwing error to give the Tornados their go-ahead lead. Senior right-handed pitcher Jakob Dennis sealed the deal, forcing a double play and a groundout to clinch BC's doubleheader sweep.
GAME ONE – BREVARD 15, WILLIAM PEACE 1 (5 INNINGS)
Senior third baseman Holden Lanier led all batters with four RBI's, as the Tornados scored a season-best 15 runs to win via mercy rule in the front end of the doubleheader. Lanier doubled, while freshmen Clark and Noah Harris each logged triples. JJ Wilkes led all Tornados with three runs, while Clark, Christian Ezzell, Harris, and Wilkes drove in a pair of runs apiece. Lanier drew a pair of walks in addition to his perfect 2-for-2 game at the dish.
Matthew Scavotto (2-1) earned his second win of the season, going the distance with five innings pitched. The junior southpaw from Charlotte allowed just two hits and an unearned run while striking out four Pacers in the outing.
The Tornados dominated from the onset of the contest, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Clark, Ezzell, Lanier, and Beau Shealy all hit RBI singles to give BC its early advantage, 4-0.
Scavotto faced a brief scoring threat, with two runners on and one out, but escaped any damage and stranded both Pacer baserunners.
A two-out rally in the second inning extended by an error helped the Tornados plate a trio of runs, as a Wilkes RBI-single was followed by Clark's first RBI-triple of the afternoon. Ezzell singled to center field to plate Clark, giving Brevard a commanding 7-0 advantage.
Harris used a single, a Jack Atkinson sacrifice bunt, and a passed ball to get 90 feet away from scoring position, setting up an Allison RBI-single to extend BC's lead to an 8-0 margin.
WPU's Logan Barbour came across on a throwing error in the top of the fourth inning to give the Pacers their first run of the game, however, the Tornados would answer right back with an emphatic seven-spot in the bottom of the fourth. Harris hit a two-RBI triple to left field before three-straight walks and a batter hit-by-pitch extended BC's lead to a 12-1 margin. Lanier capped off the rout with a bases-clearing, three-RBI double to push Brevard's advantage to an insurmountable 15-1 lead. Scavotto made quick work of the Pacers to seal the victory for the hosts.
GAME TWO – BREVARD 9, WILLIAM PEACE 7
A seven-run sixth capped off with a crucial two-RBI triple by Clark and a run scored on a throwing error propelled the Tornados to their sixth-consecutive triumph of the 2021 campaign.
Clark tallied three RBI's, while Allison and Jucker each logged a pair of hits. Allison and Atkinson each came around to score twice.
Dennis was credited with the first victory of his Brevard College career, as the senior from Raleigh, North Carolina came in the sixth inning, logging a pair of shutout frames allowing just one base knock.
After both sides traded scoreless first innings, it was the Pacers' turn to score early as a trio of runs came across to score in the top half of the second inning.
William Peace continued its scoring barrage in the top of the third frame, as the Pacers plated four runs and chased starting pitcher Trenten Anderson out of the game. Despite the early deficit, the Tornados chipped away with a pair of runs in the bottom of the stanza, as Wilkes and Clark collected RBI's to pull Brevard within five runs, 7-2.
Both sides swapped scoreless innings in the fourth and the fifth before Brevard began its offensive onslaught in the sixth. Three walks left the bases loaded with one out with Allison coming up to the plate. The sophomore outfielder from nearby Hendersonville hit an RBI-single to cut the deficit to a four-run margin, 7-3. Jucker hit a liner off the pitcher that was bobbled by the shortstop, bringing home Atkinson and Daiquon Davenport to bring BC within a pair of runs at 7-5.
Clark then drilled a hard-hit opposite-field shot near the wall in left field, scoring Allison and Jucker. An errant throw by the cut-off man allowed Clark to round the bases, scoring the go-ahead run to give the Tornados an 8-7 advantage.
After a pair of singles, Tristan Robinson added some insurance by putting runners on the corners with his single and a wild pitch scored Peter Fumero to give the Tornados a two-run cushion, 9-7.
The Pacers' leadoff single proved fruitless, as Jucker started a 6-4-3 double play before fielding a grounder to end the game, clinching BS's sixth-straight victory.
Brevard is scheduled to return to action next weekend when the Tornados travel to Staunton, Virginia for a three-game series against Mary Baldwin University on Saturday and Sunday, March 20-21.
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