LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee baseball team earned a doubleheader sweep over Ferrum, 5-4 and 7-3, on Saturday to extend its ODAC winning streak to six games, and seven wins in the last eight in conference.
The Generals (17-14, 11-8 ODAC) fell behind by a run after the first inning of the opener, but they quickly tied and gained a lead following a run in the first and two in the second. Senior first baseman
Brian Wickman (Whitehouse Station, N.J. / Hunterdon Central Regional) tied things up with a single in the first, before an RBI triple by junior center fielder
Mitchell Salvino (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Catholic) and a run-scoring single by senior second baseman
Chapin Bassi (Concord, N.H. / St. Paul's School) in the second put the team in front, 3-1.
Sophomore third baseman
Zach Senders (Potomac, Md. / Bullis School) grounded out in the fourth to score Wickman and run the W&L lead to 4-1, before Ferrum (13-24, 2-16 ODAC) first-year third baseman Davis Yeaman drove in a run on a ground out in the fourth.
The Generals tacked on their fifth run of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning when Bassi grounded out. In the ninth, the Panthers scratched two runs across home plate, but junior reliever
Derek Hughes (Raleigh, N.C. / Ravenscroft School) was able to get a ground out to end the game and nail down the save.
Ferrum struck first in game two, as well, by putting three runs on the board in the opening frame, highlighted by a single through the right side by junior first baseman Grayson Chitwood. In the second, W&L senior designated hitter
Luke Czepiel (Devon, Pa. / Conestoga) got the Generals on the board with a sacrifice fly to left.
In the fourth inning, first-year
Campbell Charneco (Clifton, Va. / Centreville) tied the game with a two-run home run to left field. Wickman then gave W&L its final lead of the game when he drove two runners home on a double in the fifth inning. Bassi and Charneco helped the Generals put their final two runs on the board in the seventh, with a single and double, respectively.
After allowing three runs in the first inning of the second game, sophomore left-hander
Thomas Haller (Round Hill, Va. / Woodgrove) (4-3) settled in and pitched a perfect second and third inning, and he proceeded to face no more than four hitters over each of the next six scoreless innings in recording his second straight home complete game.
Wickman logged two hits in both games, including a triple in both contests, and drove in a combined three runs and scored twice. Charneco went 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs in the second game, and Salvino logged four hits on the day, including a 3-for-4, two-run game in the opener. Sophomore shortstop
Ethan Zulueta (Matthews, N.C. / Weddington) went 1-for-3 in both contests, and he also made two dazzling defensive plays, diving to his right and firing to first on both occasions for outs.
Haller claimed his fourth win of the season in game two, and he finished with two earned runs allowed, one walk and six strikeouts. He allowed just five hits after the first inning. First-year
John Benner (McLean, Va. / St. Albans) (5-0) earned the game-one win as he pitched into the ninth, and allowed four runs on eight hits. Hughes' save was his first of the season.
Ferrum junior catcher Nick Funk had three hits across both games, with one RBI and a run. Torres went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run in game one, while Chitwood and sophomore shortstop Clayton Michael collected two hits each in game one. Senior Will Davis (3-6) suffered the game-one loss after he allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits in six innings. Junior Cameron Mullins (3-4) took the loss in game two, as he allowed seven runs in 6.1 frames.
The Generals will be on the road for their next game, as they take on Bridgewater on Wednesday at 4:00 pm in their final ODAC contest of the regular season.
