FERRUM, Va. - The NC Wesleyan College Baseball team won their suspended series with Ferrum College by taking game two and three of the series with the non-conference foe. Wesleyan won the completion of their suspended game from Sunday 15-6 in 7 innings and then held off the Panthers 10-8 in game three on Tuesday evening.
GAME 3: NCWC 10, Ferrum 8
Wesleyan (3-1) got off to another great start in game three getting out to a 4-0 lead after three innings on an RBI bunt single from Tristan Griffin, an RBI double from senior catcher Brad Pennington, and a sac fly from 2B Davie Morgan before scoring two more in the 4th on an error by Ferrum. NCWC then made it 9-0 with a three-run 5th inning on RBI singles from shortstop Nate Hibbs and freshman 1B Jackson Hobbs.
After scoring on another wild pitch in the 6th would then take a 10-1 lead into the bottom of the 7th. Freshman Starting pitcher CJ DiBenedetto pitched very well limiting the Panthers to just 3 hits and one unearned run on 3 walks and six strikeouts over 5 innings. Senior reliever Chris Day then threw a scoreless 6th inning.
However, Ferrum would score six runs in the 7th off two Bishop relievers, Zach Woolard and Danny Thompson, as the duo combined to allowed 3 hits, 7 runs and 6 walks over 2 and 2/3 innings. Thompson also struck out six batters over his 2 and 1/3 innings.
Senior pitcher Kevin Williams then closed out the game for the Bishops in the ninth inning with a strikeout to get the save.
Offensively, Wesleyan was led by multi-hit games from Hobbs and Hibbs and extra-base hits from Pennington and Morgan. Hobbs reached base four times as well on two hits and two walks.
GAME 2: NCWC 15, Ferrum 6 (7 innings)
The Bishops took an 11-4 lead after 3 and 1/2 innings on Sunday and completed it earlier Tuesday at Ferrum playing just 7 innings. Wesleyan scored 10 runs in the first inning back in Rocky Mount on Sunday. It began with a two-run double from Pennington and an RBI single from DH Jackson Murray. After a wild pitch and a hit by pitch drove in two more runs, back-to-back RBI singles from Hobbs and Pennington made it 7-0 before a two-run single from Hobbs put Wesleyan up 9-0.
After Ferrum scored 4 runs over the 2nd and 3rd innings, Wesleyan added one more in the third on an error before play was suspended.
Once play resumed in Ferrum, the Bishops were back at it with Pennington and Morgan driving in runs in the 4th before Morgan's two-run homer in the 6th made it 15-5 Bishops. Morgan finished with 5 RBIs on the game while Pennington drove in four. Murray, Hobbs, and Griffin also recorded two-hit performances.
On the mound, senior pitcher Drew Tubb started it and went 3 innings allowing only two hits, but gave up 4 runs on 6 walks and 2 Ks. Senior reliever Mike Smith then followed with 3 more innings allowing just one run while Alex Crosby finished out the game with 2 strikeouts.
Wesleyan, now 3-1, will next return home to host Virginia Wesleyan this weekend beginning at 1 pm on Saturday.