LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee baseball team split an ODAC doubleheader with Randolph-Macon on Saturday afternoon at Cap'n Dick Smith Field in Lexington, Va. Junior second baseman Byron Peyster's (Washington, D.C./Maret) RBI single in the bottom of the seventh capped off a four-run rally and led the Generals to an 8-7 win in game one, while R-MC was victorious, 10-2, in the nightcap.
In the opening game, the Generals got on the board first in the fourth with a pair of runs, including an RBI single from sophomore first baseman Hunter Serenbetz (Stamford, Ct./Taft School). R-MC immediately tied the contest in the following frame off an RBI base hit from sophomore third baseman Adam Carpenter (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) and an RBI ground out from junior shortstop Bruno Gora (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin), but W&L took a 4-2 lead in the fifth of a two-run triple from senior rightfielder James Madden (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park).
Randolph-Macon responded with one run in the sixth and then racked up four runs, aided by a three-run double from sophomore centerfielder J.C. Conway (Sandston, Va./Varina) to take a 7-4 lead entering the bottom of the seventh frame.
The Generals started their rally by loading the bases as freshman leftfielder Anthony Cardona (Lower Gwynedd, Pa./Chestnut Hill) doubled, junior centerfielder Terrence McKelvey (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) was walked and sophomore shortstop John Ditore (Shoreline, Wash./Bishop Blanchet) singled. Madden was then hit by junior lefthander Dillon Sheads' (Culpeper, Va./Culpeper) pitch, scoring Cardona and sophomore catcher Will Lewis (Columbia, S.C./A.C. Flora) followed that with a two-run single to tie the contest at 7-7 and set up Peyster's game-winning RBI single.
Ditore led the Generals in game one with a 3-for-4 performance from the plate, while Madden had one hit in three at-bats with three RBI. Lewis and Peyster each had two hits in four at-bats. Lewis tallied two RBI, while Peyster totaled one RBI. Sophomore righthander Chuck Davidson (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) threw the first five innings on the mound, giving up eight hits and four earned runs before giving way to the bullpen. Sophomore righthander Jim Plantholt (Pylesville, Md./North Harford) picked up the win (1-2) as he hurled 0.1 innings of one-hit ball and allowed no runs.
R-MC was paced by Conway, who hit 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI. Sheads was saddled with the loss as he gave up four hits and four earned runs in just 0.1 innings of work.
In the second game, R-MC jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with three runs in the first and one run in the fourth. The Generals plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth off an error by junior second baseman Greg Meleski (Weston, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas), cutting the Yellow Jacket advantage to 4-2. However, Randolph-Macon extended its edge with sacrifice fly from Conway in the top of the seventh to take a 5-2 lead and then racked up five runs in the top of the ninth en route to the 10-2 final margin.
W&L (18-9, 8-7) was led by McKelvey, who hit 2-for-5, and Serenbetz, who had two hits in four at-bats with a double. Junior righthander Brendan Clark (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery) tossed three innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs (3-1).
The Yellow Jackets' (19-12, 11-4) win was highlighted by Conway's 2-for-5 performance from the plate with three RBI, and Carpenter, who hit 2-for-6 with two RBI. Freshman righthander Byron Mendenhall (Falls Church, Va./George Mason) improved to 5-0 on the season as he pitched five innings, allowed five hits and no earned runs, and tallied five strikeouts.
W&L returns to action on Monday when it travels to Virginia Intermont for a 2:00 pm contest.
