MARYVILLE, Tenn. – The Brevard College baseball team (8-9, 2-1 USAS) clinched its USA South Conference opening series with a doubleheader split against Maryville College (5-11, 1-2 USAS) on Saturday afternoon in Maryville, Tennessee.
Brevard battled in a tightly-contested first game, falling 4-0, before rallying late behind dominant pitching performances in game two for a series-clinching 3-2 triumph.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Trenten Anderson (2-2) earned the victory in the series finale after eight innings of two-run ball, striking out five batters. Huntley Hacker continued his hot stretch of pitching with his first save of the season, coming on midway through the ninth and throwing a scoreless frame.
GAME ONE – MARYVILLE 4, BREVARD 0
The Scots used a complete-game shutout performance from Damian Lusby (3-2) to take the second game of the three-game set, as Lusby struck out seven Tornados en route to the three-hit shutout.
Despite the shutout effort, junior infielder Jason Jucker went 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of singles, while Brett Burchett also logged a single. Matthew Scavotto (2-3) got the starting nod on the mound, hurling five frames with one earned run and three strikeouts. Nathan Sanders got three innings of relief work, allowing one run on two hits with five strikeouts.
Maryville scored three of their four runs via sacrifice flies. Ian Campbell went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of RBI's, while Jack Shuttleworth went 2-for-4.
The Scots took advantage of a throwing error in the bottom of the second to facilitate a pair of runs, as the hosts took the early 2-0 advantage. Maryville added to their lead with a Campbell sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth that extended its lead to a 3-0 margin.
After being held hitless for 5.2 innings, Jucker got the Tornados' first base knock on a single. Peter Fumero was sent home on the hit, but a quality throw from left field beat the freshman to the plate, ending the top of the sixth inning.
Maryville added their fourth run in the bottom of the seventh on a Campbell RBI-single. The Tornados logged a single in both the eighth and ninth frames, but Lusby escaped any damage to wrap up his complete-game shutout.
GAME TWO – BREVARD 3, MARYVILLE 2
Brevard's freshman right-handed starting pitcher Anderson enjoyed one of the most dominant outings of his young Tornado career, lasting eight frames with six hits and two runs while striking out five batters. Hacker hurled an inning of one-hit, shutout ball to clinch the series in favor of the Tornados.
Logan Clark, a freshman outfielder from St. Petersburg, Florida, continued his quality series at the plate by going 1-for-3 with a run and his fifth triple of the season. Fumero, Noah Harris, and Holden Lanier also collected hits in the series finale.
Chris Arbuthnot (1-2) earned the start for Maryville, surrendering a run on just two hits with seven strikeouts. Both sides enjoyed successful pitching performances, as both Brevard and Maryville were scoreless heading into the top of the eighth inning.
Maryville threatened to score first, stranding three baserunners in the first two frames. BC went 1-2-3 through the next three innings before Harris drew a sixth-inning walk. The Scots stranded a pair of singles in the bottom of the sixth inning, while both sides went down in order in the seventh frame to leave the score deadlocked, 0-0.
A Fumero single kickstarted BC's eighth-inning rally, while Harris' one-out single gave the Tornados two runners on with one out. Zach Allison loaded the bases thanks to a fielder's choice before Jucker came through with a sacrifice fly to break the scoreless tie, bringing Fumero home to score.
Clark began the top of the ninth with a triple that was followed by a Daiquon Davenport walk. Beau Shealy was subbed on as a pinch-runner and stole second before Lanier hit an RBI-single that doubled BC's lead, 2-0. A throwing error allowed Shealy to score, pushing the Tornado advantage to a three-run margin.
Maryville began a rally of their own in the bottom of the ninth as a leadoff walk and double forced Hacker to enter the game in search of the first save in his senior season. An RBI-single and sacrifice fly cut BC's lead to a one-run, 3-2 margin After a stolen base, Hacker forced a fly-out and a swinging strikeout that secured the series victory for Brevard.
The Tornados are scheduled to take a break from conference play on Tuesday, April 6 in Greenville, South Carolina at Fluor Field – the home of the Greenville Drive – to face Bob Jones University at 6 p.m.
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-BC-