ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. - The NC Wesleyan College Baseball team rolled to a weekend series sweep of ODAC foe Virginia Wesleyan by ousting then 9-5 in game one and 9-4 in game two.
GAME ONE: NCWC 9, VWU 5
The Bishops began game one with a big 4-run first inning started off by senior catcher Brad Pennington knocking an RBI single. Sophomore 2B Davie Morgan then followed with a two-run double before sophomore LF Zach Lyon double in the 4th run of the inning.
Freshman 1B Jackson Hobbs' single in the 2nd inning then made it 5-0 before a Pennington home run in the 4th inning made it 7-0. It was Pennington's first home run of the year as he now has 9 RBIs while batting .444.
Wesleyan then added two mroe runs in the 5th on junior SS Nate Hibbs' double before Hibbs came around to score on Morgan's bases-loaded HBP. VWU then scored 4 runs in the 6th off Bishop reliever Chris Day, but it was not enough.
Redshirt freshman starting pitcher Payne Stolsworth threw 4 and 2/3 innings allowing 2 hits and a run on 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. Freshman reliever Danny Thompson also threw 1 and 1/3 scoreless innings to close out the game with a walk and three strikeouts.
Recording multi-hit games were Pennington, Morgan, Hobbs, and Lyon while those four and sophomore CF Drifton Padgett all hit for extra bases as well. Freshman 3B Tyson Bass also stole two bases as he reached via walk twice.
GAME TWO: NCWC 9, VWU 4
Game two began with VW taking a 2-1 lead before Pennington's triple in the bottom of the third tied the game at 2. Morgan's second straight day with a solo home run then put the Bishops ahead to stay in the 6th at 4-3 and started a 6-run inning for Wesleyan. Morgan now leads the team in home runs (3) and RBIs (12).
Senior SS Alec Titmus followed Morgan's home run with an RBI single that scored Lyon before Bass' two-run triple scored Titmus and Travis Cross making it 7-3. Wesleyan then added two more insurance runs on a walk, error and FC to clinch the win.
On the mound, the Battling Bishops were led by senior starter Drew Tubb's five innings allowing 3 runs on 8 hits with 2 walks and six strikeouts. Reliever CJ DiBenedetto then came on to finish the final two innings and pick up the win allowing just one hit and one run.
Wesleyan's 5th straight win improves them to 6-1 on the season while VWU falls to 0-3.
The Bishops will return to action on Saturday when they head to Richmond, VA to battle Randolph-Macon College.