GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Brevard College baseball team (20-16) fell 10-6 in a midweek non-conference contest on the road to Bob Jones University (4-25) on Tuesday night at Conestee Park in Greenville, South Carolina.
In the midst of battling for playoff positioning, BC shifted its lineup heavily for this midweek matchup, as several different Tornados earned their first career starts in the field.
Bob Jones drew nine walks coupled with 15 hits and three Tornado fielding miscues to score 10 runs in the victory.
Taylor Mattern drove in three runs on a three-RBI triple, while Colson Miller (three hits) and Kenneth Pridmore (two hits) each had multi-hit games. Senior outfielder Joc Pledger scored a team-high two runs and stole a base.
Andy Fahringer earned his first collegiate start, allowing just three hits in three innings of work, totaling two strikeouts. Bowden Witcher, Kirby Sandefur, Greg Simmons, Jacob Frizzell (1-2), and Noah Webb all saw action for Brevard in the midweek tilt.
Bob Jones had five players reach multiple hits in the contest, led by a 3-for-5 performance from Cody Kirkpatrick who scored three runs and added two RBIs on a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth.
Henry Wallach got the start for BJU and lasted six innings, surrendering eight hits and five runs while striking out nine Tornados. Jerry Parker (2-2) earned the victory after three innings of relief allowing three hits and one run (no earned runs) with two strikeouts.
Pridmore got the Tornados on the board in the top of the third with a two-RBI single that brought Pledger and Davis Bryson across to score, as BC held an early 2-0 edge. That lead would be short-lived, however, as a wild pitch followed by a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth allowed the Bruins to take a 3-2 lead.
With the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning, Taylor Mattern cleared the bases with a three-RBI triple that gave BC the lead back, 5-3. The Bruins answered back with a two-RBI triple of their own in the bottom half of the inning that tied things up, 5-5.
Pledger got aboard in the top of the seventh via a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Pledger then got on third via a pickoff error and scored on a wild pitch to put BC back in the lead, 6-5.
The Bruins got the leadoff batter on after a single, but he was picked off first by Pridmore. The following Bruin struck out to give Simmons two outs to work with in the bottom of the seventh, but two straight singles and a walk loaded the bases and forced Frizzell to come on. The sophomore right-hander from Sylva, North Carolina allowed a single that tied the game but prevented further damage with a flyout as the game shifted to the eighth inning all tied up, 6-6.
The Tornados used two hit-by-pitches and a walk to load the bases up with two outs, but Logan Sawyer flew out to center to end the scoring threat.
Bob Jones was finally able to break through in the bottom of the eighth after a walk, three singles, another walk, an RBI fielder's choice and an RBI single pushed BJU's edge to a four-run margin, 10-6.
Brevard was once again able to load the bases up with two strikes, but a baserunning blunder ended the game as Bob Jones earned its fourth win of the season.
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-BC-