DANVILLE, Va. – The Washington and Lee baseball team opened the 2020 season with 4-2 and 8-0 wins in a road doubleheader at Averett on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Generals open the season at 2-0 overall, while the two losses for the Cougars drop them to 0-3 in the early going.
 
With game one scoreless through two innings, W&L put its first three runs on the board in the top of the third, starting when sophomore second baseman Jackson Gazin (Reisterstown, Md./Boys' Latin) stole second, with an errant throw allowing sophomore third baseman Chapin Bassi (Concord, N.H./St. Paul's School) to score. First-year left fielder Zach Perkins (Vienna, Va./James Madison) followed that with an RBI double, before he scored when senior right fielder Ryan Monson (Frisco, Texas/Wakeland) reached on an infield single.
 
The Cougars got two runs back in the bottom of the fourth when senior right fielder Andrew Lancaster brought two runs in on a single up the middle. W&L tacked on its fourth run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly to center from junior shortstop Jason Volpicelli (Great Falls, Va./Paul VI Catholic), while senior left-hander Carson McKoon (Chattanooga, Tenn./McCallie School) kept the Cougars off the board for the remainder of the game.
 
Leading game two by a score of 2-0 through four innings, the Generals' bats came alive for four runs in the top of the fifth. Volpicelli scored on a throwing error, before senior designated hitter Bryce Burnette (Hurt, Va./Gretna) scored when sophomore first baseman Brian Wickman (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional) doubled down the left-field line. Sophomore catcher Luke Czepiel (Devon, Pa./Conestoga) then scored on a wild pitch and Bassi brought Wickman home on a single to left.
 
Czepiel added an RBI on a single down the right-field line in the top of the sixth, before Bassi doubled home junior Bradford Martin (Atlanta, Ga./Creekview) in the top of the ninth to close the scoring in the game.
 
Gazin highlighted the offense with five hits between the two games, including three in game one, and he added three stolen bases and two runs on the day. Czepiel and Bassi both went 3-for-5 with two RBI in game two.
 
McKoon (1-0) earned the game-one win with his first career complete game. He allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks, and struck out six batters.
 
Senior right-hander Jackson Thigpen (Potomac, Md./St. John's College) (1-0) tossed six shutout innings in game two to earn the win. He allowed just three hits, walked three batters and struck out four. Junior reliever Peyton McCann (Midlothian, Va./James River) closed out the game with three more scoreless innings to earn his first career save. McCann also walked three and punched out four hitters, three of which came in the seventh inning.
 
For the Cougars, sophomore second baseman Brandon Hatcher and junior first baseman Tanner Bradshaw had one hit each in both games, as the Cougars were limited to just 10 hits in 54 at-bats (.185) by W&L pitching.
 
First-year Tyler Nuckols (0-1) also tossed a complete game in game one, allowing four earned runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Junior Ryan Traylor (0-1) took the loss on the mound in game two after surrendering six runs (one earned) on eight hits in 4.2 innings.
 
The Generals will return to action on Sunday when they close out their three-game set with the Cougars in a 3:00 pm home contest.