Game One:
The Piedmont baseball team fell to #6-ranked Lynchburg on Saturday evening by a final score of 7-5.
The Lions looked as though they would continue their offensive parade from the previous game with a three-run inning in the first as Cole Ellis once again caused trouble at the top of the lineup. Piedmont would come away with the lead as Andrew Miserly took the ball on the pitching side for the Lions.
Piedmont would add on another run before the Hornets would look to answer back with a pair in the fourth before their big third inning.
Miserly went a solid 4.1 innings but found trouble in the fifth when the Hornets would get to the righty and chase him from the game after giving up three in the inning. Ben Homansky would close out the inning before handing the ball to Bryson Harris in the sixth.
The Lions would struggle to get anything going with the bats as Lynchburg pitching settled in after a shaky first.
Lynchburg would break through in the seventh as Quinn Madden for the Hornets would launch a two-run homer to solidify their lead.
Piedmont would answer in the bottom half, making it a two-run game with six more outs to play with, but Lynchburg’s pitching was too strong, as the Lions were set down in order for the remainder of the game.
Game Two:
The Lions picked up their second victory of the season with a 5-1 win over the George Fox Bruins.
Piedmont was opportunistic as they scored three of their five runs off of mistakes made by George Fox.
The freshman Drew O’Neil got the start and did great work in his 3.1 innings, allowing just one run against the Bruins while striking out three. He found himself in trouble in the fourth inning and was relieved by fellow freshman Will Schmidt, who was rock solid out of the pen as the righty collected seven strikeouts across 5.2 innings of work while allowing no runs.
Piedmont broke the game open in the seventh with more opportunistic play as a pair of runs came home.
It would be smooth sailing the rest of the way as the Lions’ young pitching shone and led them to a 5-1 win in the nightcap.
Piedmont ends the weekend with a 2-1 record after facing strong opponents.
The baseball team will next be in action at the D3Baseball Showcase in Kannapolis, N.C., with game one set on Feb. 20th at 12:00 p.m. against Washington and Lee.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
– Matt Dupuis had a stellar day, scattering four hits across eight at-bats collecting an RBI in process.
– Will Schmidt was electric with seven strikeouts across 5.2 innings of work, closing out the game for the Lions.
– Justin Shaffer tallied two hits while scoring three runs in the win against George Fox.
