Bishops Tame Baseball
WINCHESTER, Va. - Visiting N.C. Wesleyan brought itself to within one game of winning the USA South Conference regular season baseball title by downing No. 20 in the nation Shenandoah 16-3 Friday afternoon at Bridgeforth Field.
The Bishops (20-14, 8-3 USA South) can now clinch the league's regular season title with a win tomorrow over SU (27-6, 4-5) in the conference finale.
Saturday's game, which was originally scheduled for a 6:00 start, was changed on Thursday to a 4:00 doubleheader based on poor weather forecast for the northern Shenandoah Valley for Saturday. After getting an updated forecast Friday morning, both coaches decided to revert to the originally scheduled Friday-Saturday single-game schedule.
The change in schedule didn't help the Hornets.
After seeing the lead see-saw back and forth twice in the first three innings, the Bishops broke things open with a seven-run fifth.
NCWC sent 11 men to the plate in the frame and chased SU starter Greg Van Sickler (5-2) in the process.
Reliever Matt Davis appeared to bail Van Sickler out with just one run scored when he induced a groundball to second base, but second baseman Josh Simons mishandled it as he attempted to shovel the ball to shortstop Jesse Henry and Justin Tuck was able to advance safely from first.
Three consecutive hits followed this play, including a Luke Williford three-run double down the leftfield line, and the visitors had total control of the contest.
Bishops starter Ben Moore (5-1) settled down after allowing three runs (two earned) in the first two innings to allow just three more SU hitters into scoring position the rest of the way. Moore struck out six and did not walk a batter in the complete game victory.
Junior Jon Holcomb and freshman Cory Nelson each had two hits for the hosts, while Williford drove in four runs and Zollie Woodlief was 4 for 5 with an RBI.
<a href=http://www.su.edu/athletics/bb/current/041009.htm>Box Score</a>
