MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Brevard College baseball team (16-15, 5-9 USA South) fell in consecutive USA South Conference contests to Huntingdon College (20-11, 8-3 USAS) on Friday afternoon in Montgomery, Alabama.
The Hawks were able to two-hit the Tornados in a 3-0 shutout victory before both sides exploded offensively in game number two, with Huntington taking a six-run decision, 17-11.
GAME ONE – HUNTINGDON 3, BREVARD 0
Game one proved to be a pitcher's duel as Matthew Scavotto and HC's Eddie Patterson went toe-to-toe through the first portion of the contest. Huntingdon was able to eventually break into the scoring column in the bottom of the seventh with two runs, and added an eighth-inning insurance score before Patterson (8-2) finished the Tornados off with a complete-game performance.
Patterson allowed just two hits over the course of his nine-inning start while striking out five Tornado batters. Scavotto went five and one-third innings, allowing no runs on five hits with three strikeouts. Bryce Bowers (4-2) relieved Scavotto, hurling two and two-thirds innings with three runs on six hits.
Huntingdon was able to outhit Brevard, 11-1, while three different Hawks hit doubles and Andrew Knight logged the lone home run of the matchup. Brevard's Blake Burchett and Logan Clark each tallied singles, while BC's pitching staff and defense stranded 13 Hawk runners on base over the course of the game.
Burchett was able to get on base with a first-inning single, but was thrown out on the basepaths attempting to steal second base. Clark hit a single to lead off the second frame and advanced to second on a pickoff error, but was stranded in scoring position to end the inning. From that point forward, the Tornados were held hitless for the remaining duration of the game.
Huntingdon loaded up the bases in the bottom of the third with a double and two walks, but Scavotto forced a strikeout swinging to end the scoring opportunity.
Brevard went down in order from the third to fifth innings before BC put two runners on in the top of the sixth after a hit-by-pitch and a walk. The runners were stranded after Patterson recorded a critical strikeout to keep the game scoreless.
Huntingdon used four-consecutive singles to score a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh, taking a 2-0 advantage as the game shifted to the eighth inning. Huntingdon added an insurance run with a home run by Andrew Knight that made it a 3-0 affair.
Brevard got a pair of runners on with two walks in the top of the ninth, but a flyout ended game number one in favor of Huntingdon, 3-0.
GAME TWO – HUNTINGDON 17, BREVARD 11
The second game of the twin bill proved to be an offensive slugfest, as the two sides combined for 28 runs on 33 total hits. Huntingdon took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the third inning and didn't look back, using five and four-run frames to control the lead the rest of the way before clinching the six-run victory.
Christian Ezzell, a senior catcher from Monroe, North Carolina, hit his fourth home run of the 2022 season, bringing his career home run total to nine as a member of the BC baseball team. Zach Allison and Logan Clark both hit doubles, while Frankie Vasquez was 3-for-6 with four RBIs. Clark and Jason Jucker drive in two runs apiece, while Allison, Burchett, Clark, and Ezzell all scored two runs apiece.
Brevard was able to jump ahead in the top of the first as Vasquez singled to bring Allison around to score. Burchett hit an RBI single in the top of the second that allowed Peter Fumero to come across, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead early.
After Huntingdon answered back in the bottom-half of the frame, the Hawks scored three in the bottom of the third to take a 4-2 advantage. Clark answered back with a sacrifice fly to bring the score back to a 4-3 margin, but Huntingdon exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fourth on a pair of home runs to push it to a six-run contest, 9-3.
BC used a Vasquez RBI single and a Jucker two-RBI single to cut the deficit in half in the top of the sixth, 9-6, but Huntingdon immediately got two runs back in the bottom half of the frame.
BC attempted a comeback rally in the top of the seventh with Ezzell's solo home run and Vasquez' two-RBI single bringing the Tornados to within two, 11-9, but the Hawks were able to score four in the bottom of the seventh and two in the eighth to take back control of the game, 17-9. Brevard added a pair of runs in the top of the ninth, but the deficit proved too large to overcome as Huntingdon clinched the series win and doubleheader sweep with a 17-11 triumph.
Brevard will look to salvage a conference victory in the series finale on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. CT in Montgomery.
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-BC-