CARY, N.C. – The Brevard College baseball team (2-0) opened it 2022 campaign in emphatic fashion, sweeping a doubleheader against William Peace University (0-2) on Saturday at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.
Brevard used a five-run sixth inning in game one and five strong innings from starting pitcher Matthew Scavotto on the way to a 7-3 victory, and exploded for seven runs in the fourth inning of game number two to help clinch the doubleheader sweep with a 10-6 triumph.
GAME ONE – BREVARD 7, WILLIAM PEACE 3
Seven different Tornados scored en route to the season-opening victory over the Pacers. Jason Jucker went 2-for-3 with BC's lone extra-base hit. Zach Allison and Blake Burchett each tallied two RBI, and Peter Fumero drew a pair of walks.
Matthew Scavotto (1-0) took the ball for the opening contest of 2022, hurling five innings of four-hit, one-run ball, striking out five Pacers. Bryce Bowers came on in relief, striking out two batters in two innings.
Blake Burchett, a freshman from Mooresville, North Carolina, drew a one-out walk in the top of the first, but was picked off to end the frame. The Pacers were able to strike first with a one-out RBI single that gave the hosts a 1-0 lead. WPU threatened further by loading the bases up, but Scavotto got a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning.
The Tornados were able to answer back immediately in the top of the second inning, as freshman infielder Frankie Vasquez tallied his first-career RBI, singling home Logan Clark to tie the contest at 1-1.
Both sides went down in order in the third frame before the Tornados put two runners on base in the top of the fourth inning. A groundout ended the threat, but Scavotto sat the Pacers down in order in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Brett Burchett drew a leadoff walk in the top of the fifth inning, and junior outfielder Joc Pledger came in to pinch run. Pledger advanced to second on a single, to third on a fly out, and score on a fielder's choice to give Brevard a crucial go-ahead run.
The Pacers threatened with bases loaded and two outs in the bottom half of the fifth, but Scavotto got out of it with a strikeout to send the contest to the sixth inning.
Brevard was able to break the contest open with a five-run sixth inning, as the Tornados put together a two-out rally. Allison tallied a two-RBI single to plate Christian Ezzell and Vasquez. Blake Burchett plated a pair of runs on the next at-bat, while Jucker's RBI-double made the score 7-1 in favor of Brevard.
The Pacers would go on to score a run each in the sixth and seventh innings, but Bowers and the Tornados were able to clinch the season-opening win, 7-3.
GAME TWO – BREVARD 10, WILLIAM PEACE 6
Nathan Sanders (1-0) started the back-end of the doubleheader for Brevard, throwing three innings of two hit, one run ball while striking out three Pacers. Cesar Rodriguez came on in relief of Sanders with two innings, allowing an earned run while striking out two batters.
Brevard opened the scoring up early as Allison drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a passed ball, and scored on a Blake Burchett RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. Peter Fumero drove in the second run of the first inning with a RBI groundout, as BC held a 2-0 advantage. WPU got a run back in the bottom half of the inning on a wild pitch, cutting the Brevard lead in half.
Blake Burchett totaled another RBI in the top of the second, scoring Vasquez on a sacrifice fly, making the score 3-1 in favor of the Tornados. Both teams left one runner on in the third inning before the Tornados broke the contest open with a seven-run top of the fourth inning on just three hits, giving BC a game-high nine-run lead, 10-1.
The Pacers got a run back in the bottom of the fourth, and two back in the fifth frame to make the contest a 10-4 affair as the game shifted to the sixth inning. WPU threatened with runners on the corners, cashing in with a sacrifice fly that made it a 10-5 contest, but freshman right-handed pitcher Jacob Thompson got a key strikeout that sent game two to its final frame. The Pacers struck with another run in the bottom of the seventh, but Thompson and the Tornados were able to close the door on the contest, earning a 10-6 victory to sweep the season-opening doubleheader.
Brevard opens its home schedule as Allegheny College visits Gil Coan Field for a three-game series, beginning on Saturday, February 12 with a doubleheader scheduled for 1 and 3:30 p.m.
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-BC-