Rocky Mount, N.C. - The Battling Bishop baseball team of North Carolina Wesleyan turned in a three-game sweep of USA South foe Greensboro College this weekend. Wesleyan downed the Pride by a 12-4 score on Friday, then swept Saturday's doubleheader by 3-1 and 5-3 scores.
In Friday's 12-4 victory, junior Will Beasley (3-2) turned in complete-game performance on the hill, allowing four runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out four.
Offensively, Wesleyan opened up a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Sophomore J.J. Rodriguez got things started with a solo homer to left field, his first of the season, while junior Hayden Williams and freshman James Lovett also drove in runs. After the Pride climbed on top 4-3 with a pair of runs in the third and fourth innings, freshman Ciro Norzagaray tied the game in the bottom of the fifth with a solo shot of his own.
With the game still tied at 4-4 in the seventh, an RBI-single by sophomore Stephen Machin plated senior Jake Alexander with the eventual game-winning run. A Pride miscue on the same play also allowed Rodriguez to cross home for a 6-4 Bishop lead.
NCWC proceeded to put the game out of reach with six runs in the eighth. Five different Bishops recorded RBIs in the inning, which was capped by two-run single by Lovett.
In Saturday's opener, senior hurler Jake Swartout followed up Beasley with complete-game performance of his own. Swartout (4-3) gave up just one run on seven hits and struck out nine en route to his fourth win of the season.
Rodriguez scored Wesleyan's first run in the second inning on an RBI-groundout by sophomore Brad Guengerich, while Machin was later plated by a balk in the fourth for a 2-0 NCWC lead. After the Pride got on the board with a run in the seventh, Wesleyan answered with an RBI-double by Alexander in their half of the frame to secure the 3-1 final.
Machin paced the Bishops with a 3-for-4 showing at the plate, while Rodriguez and Norzagaray had two hits apiece.
The finale saw the two squads fight to a 1-1 tied after four complete. NCWC then managed three runs in the fifth, the latter of which came on a sac-fly from Rodriguez that plated Norzagaray with the eventual game-winner.
Up 4-1, the Bishops would see Greensboro pull as close as 4-3 with a two-spot in the seventh, but Alexander again delivered with an RBI-double in the Wesleyan's next at-bat to give the Bishops some breathing room at 5-3.
Sophomore Hatteras Brooks (4-2) picked up the win on the mound, going 6.2 innings and giving up three runs on eight hits. Freshman Dillon Moore secured his fourth save by tossing a scoreless eighth and ninth.
Freshman Justin DiSanto went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored to lead the NCWC offensive effort.
Wesleyan (14-17, 11-7 USA South) takes a break from league play on Tuesday when the Bishops welcome St. Andrews University to Bauer Field for a non-conference twinbill that will feature two 7-inning games. First pitch is slated for 2:00pm.