The Roanoke College baseball team will host Virginia Wesleyan this Saturday in a key Old Dominion Athletic Conference doubleheader. The Maroons were undefeated in the ODAC at 8-0 coming into the week, and they’re right on the tail of the Maroons, who are ranked sixth nationally in Division III.
Roanoke remained undefeated in ODAC play with a sweep of Hampden-Sydney in Farmville, VA last Saturday. The Maroons swept the Tigers 11-4 and 9-3 to finish the month of March 15-0.
In Saturday’s first game Will Salva drove in four runs to lead RC. The Maroons went up 1-0 in the first inning when Jack Howard singled home Eli Sumpter to give the Maroons an early. In the top of the second inning, Will Merriken walked with one out and then went to third on a double by Will Smith. Merriken would score on a Sean Guida RBI groundout that made it 3-0.
Salva opened up the third inning with a double. He would go to third on a Howard single and score on a Gavin Kandrick RBI single to push RC in front 4-0. H-SC scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning to cut its deficit to 4-2, but Guida doubled with one out in the fourth inning then went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Sumpter sacrifice fly to make it 5-2.
With the score 5-3 in the seventh inning, the Maroons loaded the bases and scored when Kandrick was hit by a pitch that brought home Sumpter to extend the RC lead to 6-3. Roanoke put the game away in the eighth inning when the Maroons loaded the bases with one out and Salva delivered a bases clearing double to put RC up 9-3.
Forrest Wagner (2-0) picked up the win in relief after going three innings and giving up one run on three hits. Ethan Delahunty (1) was credited with a three inning save, giving up just one hit and one run.
In the second game eight different Maroons recorded hits, headed by Merriken with four. Roanoke jumped ahead 8-2 following a four-run sixth inning that saw Salva and Sam Watson each deliver two-out, RBI singles that each scored a pair of runs.
The Maroons were scheduled to play at Ferrum Tuesday, where they were looking to open April with their 16th straight win. On Wednesday they were scheduled to host Lynchburg College at 7 pm.
