BREVARD, N.C. - The Brevard College baseball team (20-19, 10-11 USAS) fell 12-6 in the regular season finale to Greensboro College (19-19, 13-8 USAS) on Sunday afternoon at Gil Coan Field.
Brevard will now turn its attention to the 2023 USA South Conference Baseball Tournament, beginning with two three-team double-elimination first-round tournaments. BC locked up the sixth seed in the conference, sending the Tornados to Fayetteville, North Carolina beginning Friday, May 5. The postseason appearance marks BC's first since the 2015 SAC Tournament.
The Tornados were able to jump on Greensboro early, taking a 6-2 lead through three innings played. The visitors scored 10 unanswered runs over the course of the last six innings of action to clinch the series sweep, 12-6.
Sophomore outfielder Lucas Granata went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a double. Kenneth Pridmore and Logan Sawyer each recorded two hits apiece, while Cale Oehler added a double.
Cameron Cook got the start for the Tornados, hurling six innings allowing eight hits and four runs with a season-high six strikeouts. Andy Fahringer (0-1), Matt Evans, and Noah Webb all saw action in relief.
Greensboro scored 12 runs on 19 hits while seven different Pride hitters had multi-hit games. Brody Gardner went 4-for-4 at the plate and Kai Hayen and Louis Bernini each had three-hit performances. Ten of BC's 19 base hits were of the extra-base variety.
Brevard got on the board in the bottom of the first inning after Granata singled and Morton laid down a sacrifice bunt. The throw over to first sailed wide and into right field, allowing Granata to score all the way from first to give BC a 1-0 lead.
The Tornados surged for four runs in the bottom of the second after a Sawyer RBI single, a Granata two-RBI double, and a Clark RBI single as BC took a 5-0 lead.
Greensboro got on the board in the top of the third with a two-out two-RBI double. Brevard got a run back in the bottom half of the frame as Granata logged his third RBI of the contest to give BC a 6-2 edge.
GC used a two-RBI single in the top of the fourth to trim the deficit in half, 6-4. Greensboro seemingly had the contest tied up in the top of the sixth after a single to center allowed two runners to cross home, but on appeal one of the Pride baserunners failed to touch home plate, negating the RBIs and keeping the contest at a 6-4 margin.
Greensboro cut Brevard's lead in half at the top of the seventh inning with another RBI double. The visitors broke through with five runs in the top of the eighth to take its first lead of the game, 10-6.
Brevard got two runners on base in the bottom half of the inning, but a double play ended the threat. Greensboro added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth and closed the game out to clinch the series sweep.
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