LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee baseball team took the season opener with a 14-3, seven-inning win against Ursinus College on Saturday.
The Generals (1-0) tied the game after taking a two-run deficit in the first inning, with one run in the second and third innings each. The run in the second came home on an infield single by junior right fielder Mason Satterfield (Vienna, Va./James Madison), followed by a sac fly to left by junior second baseman Jacob Jackson (Norfolk, Va./Maury in the third.
The Grizzly Bears (0-1) scored their final run of the night in the top of the fifth when junior third baseman Jared Minnichbach plated first-year center fielder Cameron Krugel on a sacrifice fly to center field to give the Grizzly Bears a 3-2 lead.
The Generals gave the home crowd a show with a seven-run fifth inning beginning with a leadoff double by Satterfield. Sophomore catcher Campbell Charneco (Clifton, Va./Centreville) then doubled to center field to score Satterfield, followed by RBI singles by Jackson, junior first baseman Drew Larsen (Glen Allen, Va./Deep Run), and senior center fielder Mitchell Salvino (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Catholic) to give the Blue and White a 9-3 lead.
W&L added to its lead with a two-run sixth and a three-run seventh. This included a seventh-inning two-RBI triple hit to center field by Larsen and an RBI double by junior shortstop Ethan Zulueta (Matthews, N.C./Weddington).
Leading the Generals' offense were Charneco and Larsen. Charneco ended the night going 4-for-5 with one double and three runs scored. Larsen went 3-for-5 with a triple and a pair of singles accompanied by three runs batted in. Salvino and Zulueta each finished 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI, while Satterfield and junior third baseman Zach Senders (Potomac, Md./Bullis School) each added two hits and an RBI as well.
Sophomore pitcher John Benner (McLean, Va./St. Albans) (1-0) earned the win after a solid six-inning performance. After allowing three hits in the first inning, Benner held the Grizzly Bears to just one hit in his final five frames. Benner finished his outing allowing only three runs (two earned) with seven strikeouts and two walks. Sophomore reliever Jack Belbot (Baltimore, Md./Loyola Blakefield) came in for one inning of relief for the Generals with a clean 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts.
Senior pitcher Casey Murphy (0-1) pitched 4.1 innings with six runs on seven hits and five strikeouts. Junior Matt Tuley and first-year Max Shilstone pitched the final 2.2 innings and allowed eight runs on nine hits with just one strikeout.
Leading the Grizzly Bears' offense was senior right fielder Tom Snipes going 1-for-3 with two runs batted in. Alongside Snipes was Krugle, senior second baseman Solomon Griffith, and sophomore designated hitter Andrew Richter all with a single of their own.
W&L and Ursinus will rematch tomorrow at 1:00 pm at Cap'n Dick Smith Field to finish the weekend opening series.
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