Solid starting pitching by a pair of left-handers for the Apprentice School and key two-out hits helped lead the Builders to a doubleheader sweep of Southern Virginia University 3-0 and 4-2 in a U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association matchup on Saturday.
WHO: Apprentice School (22-4) vs. Southern Virginia University (12-9)
WHERE: War Memorial Stadium – Hampton, VA.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Apprentice School (1), Southern Virginia (4).
NUTS AND BOLTS: The Apprentice School (24-4) saw its record against U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association teams to 11-0 with a doubleheader sweep of Southern Virginia University. Both teams were ranked in the top four of the latest USCAA Coaches Poll that was announced late Friday.
GAME NOTES – GAME 1
- In the first three innings both starting pitchers were in command, as a second inning walk by Cody Seals was the lone base runner.
- Freshman Taylor Gomer was locked in holding the Knights to a pair of hits while striking out four. A one-out single by Josh Linn broke the no-hit bid in the fourth, but he was quickly picked off first base.
- In the fourth, the Builders made their noise with two outs. After an earlier single from Chris Aldridge, Seals slapped a single through the left-side of the infield and Jordan Cowles was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Lee Rossi hit a high-hopper to third base who made an attempt to get Seals at third but didn't which enabled Aldridge to score. Chris Scarola followed with a two-run single to left for all the scoring.
GAME NOTES – GAME 2
- The Knights broke the ice in the third inning as a two-out Traeger Hintze double scored Mitch Stevenson who had singled and stole second.
- Apprentice School responded with three runs in its half of the third inning. After two outs, Trevin Wilson reached on a bunt single and took second on an errant throw. Brock Harris reached on an error before a single from Aldridge tied the game. Devorn Lake followed with a triple down the left field line to score Harris and Aldridge to go up 3-1.
- In the fifth, the Builders took a 4-1 advantage as Seals drove in Harris with his tenth double of the year.
- Southern Virginia responded with a run in the top of the sixth on a two-out double from Dale Brown to score Tyler Clark.
- That double ended the night for Apprentice School starter Ryland Edwards as he went 5.2 innings with five hits and two runs. David Sebera came in and struck out Brad Price on four pitches to put a stop to that threat.
- In the seventh, Sam Massie came in with a pair of strikeouts and enduced a fly out from Stevenson to end the game.
BUILDER BITS
- Seals' double was his tenth of the year and eight of those have driven in runs.
- The three hits in game one matched a season low for the Builders as Kutztown held them to three hits in the Builder Invitational.
- With his third save of the year in game two, Sam Massie matched his total from his freshman season and sits fifth in the single-season saves category.
- The Builders are now 2-1 on the year against nationally-ranked opponents after losing to then top-ranked NCAA Division III Salisbury 4-3. They also own a pair of wins against Tufts University last weekend who was receiving votes in the latest D3baseball.com Top 25.
- In game one, Gomer had five of his seven innings where he threw less than 10 pitches.
- The doubleheader sweep ran the winning streak of the Builders to six, while the losses were fourth in a row and sixth out of seven for the Knights.