BURLINGTON, N.C. - Shenandoah University will have two chances to win the 2009 USA South Conference baseball Tournament championship after advancing Saturday afternoon with a 9-2 win over Ferrum College at Burlington Athletic Stadium.
The Hornets (31-6) also tie a school-record for victories in the season with the win over the Panthers (14-14).
The championship game is scheduled for 11 a.m.; the game time was moved up because of a forecast for poor weather in the Burlington area for Sunday afternoon.
SU will meet the winner of the Ferrum/NC Wesleyan contest for the championship.
Trailing 2-0 after Ferrum combined three hits with a costly SU error in the second to score the initial two runs of the contest in the second, Shenandoah rallied with two each in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
Shenandoah got the go-ahead run in the sixth on a Jon Holcomb single up the middle to plate designated hitter Cory Nelson, who had led off the frame with a walk and then was sacrificed to second.
A pitching change followed by Holcomb stolen based ensued before Kevin Brashears plated Holcomb with a single up the middle.
That rally was more than enough for senior Matthew Davis (2-1), who came on in relief of Eric Rabung with two outs in the sixth.
Davis got out of the sixth by striking out Kevin Marshall, and worked the final three innings by allowing two singles and walking two. He struck out four total.
The Panthers took that second-inning lead when Travis Crump led off with a single to left and after being sacrificed to second, scored on Marshall's single to center.
Following an infield single that put runners on first and second, Daniel Alvarez hit what appeared to be a 6-4-3 double play ball to end the frame, but the relay throw to first sailed past first baseman Greg Van Sickler and Marshall was able to score from second.
This proved to be Ferrum's high-water mark; FC had one serious scoring threat (in the eighth) the rest of the way.
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