VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Washington and Lee baseball team split a doubleheader with Virginia Wesleyan on Sunday afternoon at Marlin Field. Sophomore first baseman Hunter Serenbetz's (Stamford, Conn./Taft School) RBI single in the top of the 16th inning led the Generals to a 6-5 win in the first game, but the Marlins won the second contest, 11-1.
In the first game, the Marlins (9-4-1, 2-2 ODAC) took a 3-0 lead in the third inning with three RBI singles, but the Generals cut VWC's lead to 3-1 in the fifth frame when junior centerfielder Terrence McKelvey's (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) fielder's choice plated senior designated hitter Tim Livingston (Los Angeles, Calif./Santa Monica). W&L then took a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth as sophomore catcher Will Lewis (Columbia, S.C./A.C. Flora) registered an RBI double and both Serenbetz and sophomore shortstop John Ditore (Shoreline, Wash./Bishop Blanchet) each tallied an RBI single.
Virginia Wesleyan forced extra innings when a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh from rightfielder Ozz Dhramapitaksook tied the game at 4-4. The two teams traded runs in the 12th inning, and then the Generals scored the go-ahead run with Serenbetz's RBI single to center field and closed out the bottom of the 16th with a pop fly to left and a routine double play.
Serenbetz paced W&L, batting 4-of-7 with a double and two RBI, while senior rightfielder James Madden (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park) had three hits in seven at-bats with a triple. Lewis hit 3-for-7 with a double and two RBI. Senior lefthander John Parker (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence) picked up the win (1-0) for W&L as he hurled 3.1 innings of two-hit ball and allowed no earned runs. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jim Plantholt (Pylesville, Md./North Harford) totaled his second save of the season and is just one save shy of tying W&L's career save mark (7 - Matt Reedy 1993-96).
In the second game, Virginia Wesleyan took an 8-0 lead after four innings and the Generals managed their only run in the top of the fifth as the game was ended in the eighth inning due to darkness. The Generals totaled just four hits in the nightcap and were led by McKelvey, who was 2-for-4, and Madden and Plantholt both had one hit in three at-bats. Madden tallied the Blue and White's only RBI in the second contest. Sophomore righthander Chuck Davidson (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) was saddled with loss after surrendering eight hits and eight earned runs in 3.2 innings of work.
The Generals (11-3, 4-1 ODAC) return to action on Tuesday when they host Penn State-Harrisburg at 3:00 pm.
