BUENA VISTA, Va. – The Capital University baseball team was back in action on Wednesday, this time in the form of a double header at Southern Virginia. The pair of squads squared off at the hilltop complex of Parry McCluer High School. Game one got underway a little after 11:00 a.m. with the Knights taking it 11-2. Game two was a little bit closer but CU fared the same, losing 8-5.
GAME ONE (CAP 2-11 SVU)
Trevor Woodyard took the bump in game one, going three-and-a-third innings, allowing only three hits and two runs. He also struck out three. Woodyard was followed by
Joey Womble (0.1 IP),
Justin Mason (1.2 IP),
Spencer Knight (0.1 IP), and
Adam Frump (0.1 IP). Justin Wilson goes down as the losing pitcher, his record now at 0-2.
The Comets got on the board early, pushing two runs across in the first inning. With
EJ Santana singling,
Ryne McKinney doubled and put runners on second and third.
Hunter Wilson then singled and knocked in both to give Capital an early 2-0 lead. The Knights got one back in the bottom of the inning and added another via a homerun in the bottom of the second to knot the game at 2-2.
Capital looked to strike again in the fifth after
Reagan Burch singled to right field and advanced to third on a fielding error by the right fielder. After that,
EJ Santana walked and was pinch run for by
Ryan Brophy, who then stole second. With two on and two out, Southern Virginia would escape the jam on a close called third strike and the score remained tied at 2-2.
Instead, it was SVU getting the upper hand, sending one over the fence in the sixth to take a 3-2 lead. Southern Virginia would pile up eight more before the inning's end and headed to the seventh up 11-2. Besides Burch leading off and reaching first via an error, the top of the seventh was uneventful for the Comets, ending the game at 11-2 in favor of the hosts.
GAME TWO (CAP 4-8 SVU)
Kyle Bowles got the nod in game two, pitching three innings. He struck out two. In relief were
Noah Bromberg,
Brennon Newell (1.2 IP),
Casey Wilkins, and
Garrett Montgomery (1.1 IP). Bowles is slated with the loss, now 1-1.
Capital wasted no time getting going in the second game, leading off with back-to-back singles by
Reagan Burch and
Tristan Burns. They would be pushed to second and third via a productive groundout by
EJ Santana.
Ryne McKinney then sent a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in Burch for the Comets' first run of the game.
Again, Southern Virginia responded, scoring three runs in the bottom of the second to take a 3-1 lead. The Knights would go on to add another in the bottom of the third, making it 4-1.
The Comets bounced back in the fourth, putting across two runs. First
Hunter Wilson singled and reached second on a throwing error.
Grayson Gulley followed suit, reaching base on a walk. A throwing error by the catcher on a pickoff attempt advanced the runners to second and third.
Kielan LaMarr then sent them both home on a single to left and thus closed the gap to 4-3.
Unfortunately for CU, the Knights would knock in four more in the bottom of the fifth to go up 8-3. Capital was able to put one across in the top of the sixth in the form of
Ethan Neal who reached on a dropped third strike and was moved over to third on a double by
Logan White. He crossed the plate on a groundout from Gulley. After six, the Comets still sat four runs behind, 8-4.
Robby Harrison would go on to provide quite the highlight in the top of the seventh inning and give the Comets some hope. In his first collegiate at bat, the freshman catcher from Baton Rouge, Louisiana sent the very first pitch flying over the left field fence. Harrison not only recorded his first career hit, but also his first career home run in one fell swoop and gave himself a career batting average of 1.000 and a career slugging percentage of 4.000.
Despite a newfound momentum building and threatening a two-out rally, Capital's day would come to an end on an anticlimactic strikeout, 8-5.
UP NEXT
The Comets are due north now, heading to Hanover, Maryland for a three-day stay. The team will travel to Washington D.C. on Thursday for a visit to the Capitol and then take on Elmira in a three-game set at the home of Baltimore Orioles Double-A affiliate Bowie Baysox, Prince George's Stadium, on Friday and Saturday.
