BREVARD, N.C. - The Brevard College baseball team (16-7) dropped a non-conference contest to Williams College (5-4), 14-12 as a ninth-inning Tornado rally fell just short on Monday afternoon at Gil Coan Field.
The weekday contest turned into a slugfest as both sides combined for 26 runs on 28 hits in a total of 81 at-bats between the two teams.
Kenneth Pridmore turned in a career performance for the Tornados, going 4-for-5 with his first BC home run to go alongside two runs scored and two RBIs. Blake Burchett went 3-for-6 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI, while extending his nation-leading stolen base total to 26 with three stolen bases in the game. Lucas Granata and Cale Oehler totaled two hits apiece while Oehler and Luke Morton logged doubles. Logan Clark logged his 100th career hit, a two-RBI triple, while also scoring a run and stealing a base.
Four Tornados made appearances on the mound following a busy weekend of action in conference play. Matt Evans (0-1) went three innings with three earned runs and a pair of strikeouts, while Jacob Frizzell turned in two innings of shutout ball with a pair of strikeouts.
Williams was able to hit four home runs and six extra-base hit en route to the two-run victory. Henry Juan went 3-for-6 with three runs scored and three RBIs, while Jakob Cohn also went 3-for-6. Jacob Martin (1-0) earned the win after three innings of scoreless, hitless relief with a strikeout.
Brevard got on the board first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning, but the Ephs answered back with three home runs in the top of the second to take a 6-2 lead. The Tornados were able to tie things back up 6-6 in the bottom of the second inning with a two-RBI double followed by an RBI triple and a wild pitch made it a 6-6 ballgame after two frames.
An RBI single and a wild pitch allowed the Ephs to take back the lead, 8-6 in the top of the third, but Pridmore launched his first Brevard home run in the bottom half of the inning as the back-and-forth contest continued as the score drew even 8-8 after three innings.
Pridmore hit an infield single in the bottom of the fourth, and an errant Eph throw allowed Frankie Vasquez to score from second base as Brevard retook the lead 9-8. Oehler stroked an RBI double to left field in the bottom of the fifth to extend its lead to a two-run, 10-8 advantage.
Williams flipped the script in the sixth inning with a solo home run, an RBI single, and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch as the visitors from Massachusetts retook the lead 11-10.
One of the most pivotal at-bats came in the top of the seventh inning with the bases loaded, as Williams, Cole Whitehouse hit a three-RBI double to center field to push the lead up to a four-run margin, 14-10.
Frizzell came on in relief for the Tornados in the top of the eighth and kept the visitors in check over the course of the final two innings, allowing Brevard's offense the opportunity to rally in the bottom-half of the ninth inning.
Pridmore kicked off the rally with a one-out single to right-center field. Riley Hochrine drew a walk to place pinch-runner Christian Riley on second base before Burchett hit an RBI double to right field that brought Riley around to score, making it a 14-11 contest.
Morton followed suit with a sacrifice fly that plated pinch runner Peter Fumero to cut the deficit to two, 14-12, as Burchett advanced to third base. Zach Allison pinch hit for the Tornados, but the rally was halted as James O'Connor forced a fly out to end the contest.
Brevard will now prepare for a three-game USA South Conference series at home against NC Wesleyan University beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 p.m.
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-BC-