Baseball Opens with Sweep

WINCHESTER, Va. - Shenandoah University used a pair of strong pitching performances combined with timely hitting Saturday afternoon to open its 2009 baseball season with a non-league doubleheader sweep over Misericordia University.

Shenandoah (2-0) took game one 3-1 before winning the nightcap 3-0 over the Cougars (0-2).

In game one, seniors Josh Simons and Matthew Davis combined to throw a three-hitter to give SU a season-opening win for the second time in the past three seasons.

Simons (1-0) struck out six and allowed just a fifth-inning solo home run by Nate Newman before giving way to Davis for the final three outs.

Davis allowed an infield single to open the last, but took the next three in order (the last two by strikeout) to earn the save.

Coach Kevin Anderson's club got all of the offense it would need with single runs in the first and third. Sophomore Kevin Brashears opened the Hornets first with a triple to right center and scored one batter later on Scott Lambert's single to right.

Two innings later, Brashears tallied what proved to be the game-winning run when he walked, stole second and came home on an RBI single from Jesse Henry.

Lambert also plated the final run of the contest with his fifth-inning single through the left side.

Freshman Eric Rabung (1-0) loaded the bases in the first inning of the nightcap, but settled down to strikeout Bubba Jasinski on a 3-2 fastball and escape without any damage.

Rabung built from that experience, allowing just three hits and striking out two in 4.1 innings of work.

Anderson replaced Rabung three batters into the fifth, and senior Gage Levac recorded the final eight outs on three groundouts and five fly-outs to post his second career save.

Henry provided the game-winning RBI by grounding out to second against a drawn in infield with one out in the third.

Junior Jon Holcomb scored that game-winner after leading off with an infield single, stealing second and being sacrificed to third by Lambert.

Misericordia played its infield up on the grass in an attempt to cut down Holcomb, but Henry hit a high-chopper to second that gave the Cougars no chance to successfully take out Holcomb.

Henry finished the nightcap 2 for 3 and the one run batted in.

Box Scores

Shenandoah continues this weekend homestand Sunday with a noon doubleheader against King's (Pa.).