LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee baseball team took home a thrilling 2-1 win over Randolph-Macon to open its Monday doubleheader, before falling in game two, 8-5, to come away with a split.
No scoring occurred in the opener until the fifth inning, as both teams' starting pitchers were strong out of the gates. The Yellow Jackets (10-3, 1-1 ODAC) dented the scoreboard first when sophomore right fielder Hunter Cole singled up the middle. The Generals (8-6, 3-2 ODAC) were quick to tie the game, however, as sophomore catcher
Jaden Keuhner (Aldie, Va. / John Champe) brought senior second baseman
Chapin Bassi (Concord, N.H. / St. Paul's School) home on a ground out in the bottom of the inning.
W&L took the final lead at 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, courtesy of a single up the middle from junior center fielder
Mitchell Salvino (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Catholic) to score Bassi again.
The Yellow Jackets put the lead-off man on first in the eighth and threatened to advance him at least two bases when junior third baseman Carter Johnson laced a line drive into the right-center field gap. Junior right fielder
John Raymond (Frenchtown, N.J. / Delaware Valley Regional) tracked the ball and dove to make the catch to prevent the knock. Junior right-hander
Derek Hughes (Raleigh, N.C. / Ravenscroft School) then retired the next two hitters to escape the inning, before forcing a fly out to end the game in the ninth with a runner on third.
Leading game two by a score of 3-1 heading to the seventh, sophomore first baseman Myles Webb hit a sac fly to left to put R-MC up three runs. The Generals got two runs back in the bottom half on a two-run single by Raymond, but the Yellow Jackets boosted their lead back to two runs in the top of the eighth when sophomore shortstop Grayson Bush singled home Johnson.
W&L rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth on a single by junior left fielder
Zach Perkins (Vienna, Va. / James Madison) and a ground out by sophomore shortstop
Ethan Zulueta (Matthews, N.C. / Weddington). However, R-MC scored the game's final three runs in the top of the ninth on two hits and two errors. First-year catcher Lincoln Lubsen put the team ahead, 6-5, on a single and first-year second baseman Aaron Lautenschlager followed with an RBI single of his own.
The Yellow Jackets opened the scoring in game two with a run in the third and two in the fourth. Cole had an RBI double in the third, while senior designated hitter Will Hass and Lautenschlager knocked home one run each in the fourth. The Generals got their first run in the fifth on a single to left by Raymond.
Salvino had three hits total on the day, and he extended his hitting streak to 17 games, dating back to last season. Raymond had a team-high three RBI on the day, all in game two, while Zulueta finished with one hit in both games, to go along with two runs and an RBI in game two.
Hughes (1-0) earned the win in game one after pitching four scoreless innings to close things out. He allowed three hits, walked three and struck out four. First-year
Jack Cope (Chevy Chase, Md. / Landon School) got the start and allowed just one run on four hits over the first five innings. First-year
Evan Blair (Vienna, Va. / James Madison) (1-2) was the pitcher of record in game two for W&L, as he allowed five runs (three earned) on eight hits in 3.1 innings.
Lautenschlager led the game-two efforts for R-MC with a 3-for-5, two-RBI performance. Johnson had two hits in the game and scored twice, and Webb went 1-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Cole totaled three hits on the day and drove in one run in both games.
Sophomore Wyatt Stanley (1-1) earned the win in game two with scoreless eighth and ninth innings and three strikeouts. In game one, junior Hayden Snelsire was the losing pitcher after he allowed two earned runs on four hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
The Generals will return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Eastern Mennonite for a 4:00 pm rumble with the Royals.
