FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The Brevard College baseball team (22-21) saw its 2023 campaign conclude in heartbreaking fashion as the three-seeded William Peace Pacers (25-19) scored eight unanswered runs to walk the game off in the bottom of the ninth inning. 15-14, to advance to the USA South Conference Baseball Championship Series.
The defeat closes the book on one of the most successful seasons in the program's 15-year NCAA history, as the Tornados finish with 20-plus (22) wins for the second-consecutive season and earned the first two playoff wins in program NCAA-era history.
Logan Clark and Cale Oehler each went 2-for-4 in the contest with two RBIs and two runs scored, as the duo each had a pair of doubles in the contest. Clark finishes the season with 59 hits which is a new D3-era single-season record for the Tornados.
Blake Burchett, Brett Burchett, Lucas Granata, Luke Morton, and Kenneth Pridmore each added hits in the game, with Blake Burchett scoring three runs and stealing his 36th base of the season and Zach Allison coming across to score twice.
BC featured seven total pitchers in the contest, as freshman righty Matt Evans made his first collegiate start with four innings pitched and three earned runs allowed. Andy Fahringer, Aiden Williams, Cameron Cook, Cesar Rodriguez, Oehler (0-1), and Frankie Vasquez all made appearances on the mound for the Tornados.
WPU's Jake Dacunto and Patrick Rogan totaled five RBI each in the Pacers' 15-run offensive explosion. Cameron Barefoot and Sean Roseborough each totaled three hits apiece as five Pacers had multiple hits in the 14-hit outburst.
Rosenborough drove in the game's first run in the bottom of the second inning to give the Pacers an early 1-0 edge. BC answered with back-to-back doubles from Clark and Oehler to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the third. WPU answered with a sacrifice fly followed by Dacunto's two-run home run that gave William Peace the lead back, 4-2.
Brevard showed incredible patience in the top of the fifth inning, drawing five walks and two hit-by-pitches all with two outs to eventually bring a whopping seven runs across to score, seemingly breaking the contest open with a five-run lead, 9-4. BC was able to score seven runs with only one hit and one Pacer error.
The Pacers would not go away quietly, however, as WPU scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit to just two runs, 9-7.
BC once again strung together a big offensive frame in the top of the seventh, using five hits and two Pacer errors to score five runs and regain a commanding seven-run lead, 14-7.
The Pacers would continue chipping away at the deficit, however, scoring two in the bottom of the seventh followed by a pivotal four-run eighth inning that saw William Peace score all of its runs with two outs in the inning, cutting the Tornado lead to just one run at 14-13.
Limited on pitching options following a hectic four games in three days schedule, BC turned to Oehler and Vasquez in the ninth inning. The Pacers were able to get the first runner aboard on a walk, and then a fielder's choice on a sacrifice bunt and another sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out.
A walk loaded the bases up and then William Peace was able to tie the game on a sacrifice fly. Brevard looked to force extra innings with two outs in the inning, but a hit by pitch and a game-winning RBI single sealed BC's fate as the Pacers walked it off in the bottom of the ninth to advance to the USA South Championship Series in Rocky Mount, North Carolina following their 15-14 triumph.
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-BC-
