DEMOREST, Ga. — The Washington and Lee baseball team scored four runs in the first inning, but Piedmont rallied in the middle of the game to secure an 8-5 home victory on Wednesday.   

The Generals (4-2) headed into the fifth inning down, 5-4, but tied the game on a one-out double by sophomore second baseman Taylor Rowe (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park). The Lions (4-5) responded with two runs on a RBI single by sophomore catcher Austin Brick, and a one-run fielder's choice by senior center fielder Tate Koons to take a 7-5 lead at the end of five.

The Lions added one more run in the seventh, and W&L failed to mount a comeback in the final two innings to suffer the defeat. First-year Allen Tokarz earned the victory for Piedmont, pitching 4.1 innings in relief, allowing one earned run and striking out four. Sophomore Jacob Brewster pitched a perfect ninth inning for the save.

Sophomore Cory Smith (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley) took the loss for the Blue and White to fall to 1-1 on the year. He pitched 2.2 innings, while giving up two earned runs and striking out two.

Junior first baseman Josh Josephson (Boca Raton, Fla./American Heritage) was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Rowe also added two hits with two RBIs.

W&L jumped out in the top of the first with four runs. Senior shortstop Jonathan Stutts (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Country Day) started the rally with a sacrifice fly to score senior designated hitter Mike Savas (Bernardsville, N.J.).

Josephson then connected on a two-run double, which plated junior center fielder Keegan Dolan (Bethesda, Md./Landon) and senior right fielder Will Salley (Augusta, Ga./Westside). Rowe capped the scoring with a two-out RBI single to bring in Josephson.

Trailing 4-0, the Lions cut the deficit to three on a sacrifice fly by sophomore left fielder Casey Parham in the third. In the fourth inning, Piedmont tallied four runs to take a 5-4 lead. Senior first baseman Kevin D'Antignac led off the inning with a homer, Brick scored on an error by Stutts, Koons hit a triple to knock in a run and then Koons scored on another error by Stutts.

The Generals return home on Friday when they host UMaine-Presque Isle at 2:00 pm.

-- www.generalssports.com --