BREVARD, N.C. - The Brevard College baseball team (3-3) avenged a pair of losses from Saturday, as the Tornados swept Toccoa Falls College (7-6) in a pair of seven-inning games in the 2023 home-opening series on Sunday afternoon at Gil Coan Field.
Pitching proved strong for the Tornados in both of their victories, as Brevard took a 4-2 victory in game number one. BC scored five unanswered runs in game number two en route to a 7-4 victory to sweep the doubleheader.
GAME ONE - BREVARD 4, TOCCOA FALLS 2
Cameron Cook (1-0) made his 2023 debut in the first game of the doubleheader, turning in an impressive performance with five innings pitched, two hits, and no earned runs allowed while striking out three batters. Bryce Bowers locked down his second save of the season with two innings pitched, allowing a hit and an earned run with two strikeouts.
Brevard was fierce on the basepaths, as BC stole a total of seven bases. Senior second baseman Blake Burchett, who led all of NCAA DIII Baseball last season in stolen bases per game, swiped a total of three bags in game one, while Zach Allison, Logan Clark, Hayden Jennings, and Cale Oehler all totaled a stolen base.
Oehler went a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate with two RBIs and a double, while Burchett scored a pair of runs. Allison, Burchett, and Clark all logged singles.
Allison was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the first inning, and Oehler capitalized with an RBI double to center field that plated the first run of the afternoon for Brevard. Cook cruised through the first three innings retiring the first nine batters he faced, while the Tornados loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the third. Oehler hit a sacrifice fly that extended the Tornado lead up to 2-0, but BC was unable to do further damage in the frame.
Ryan McCarron singled home a run with two outs for Toccoa Falls after the Screaming Eagles got a runner in scoring position following a BC error.
Brevard was able to get that run back with a two-run fifth inning. Burchett singled and then stole second and third base. Clark followed suit with an RBI single and stole second base, while Oehler singled and stole second while Clark crossed the plate on a Toccoa Falls error.
The Screaming Eagles attempted to put together a rally in the seventh inning, scoring a run with two outs to cut the deficit to two runs, but Bowers forced a flyout to clinch the home-opening victory for the Tornados.
GAME TWO - BREVARD 7, TOCCOA FALLS 4
Connor Crosby (2-0) impressed in his second start in a Tornado uniform. The freshman left-handed pitcher from Tampa, Florida lasted six innings giving up two earned runs with seven strikeouts on his ledger. Bowers pitched in his second game of the afternoon, wrapping up the win with an inning of work.
Seven different Tornados earned base hits in game two, as Brett Burchett totaled two RBIs to lead all BC batters. Oehler logged his second double of the day, while Blake Burchett stole his fourth base of the afternoon.
Toccoa Falls scored in the top of the first with an RBI single to take the early 1-0 advantage. Mason Lyon tied things up for BC with an RBI single that brought Oehler around to score. Brevard went on to score five-unanswered runs, as the Tornados brought three runners around in the bottom of the fourth inning followed by Lucas Granata's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth.
BC extended its margin with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth, as the Tornados held a 7-2 edge with three outs to go. Toccoa Falls attempted a late rally with two runs in the top of the seventh and threatened for more with two runners on and the game-tying run at the plate, but Bowers got a strikeout to clinch the doubleheader sweep, 7-4.
The Tornados gear up for a busy week of action at Gil Coan Field next week, beginning a three-game series with Northern Vermont-Lyndon on Thursday, February 23 at 2 p.m.
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-BC-