Wesleyan completes series sweep of Eastern Mennonite

Rocky Mount, NC - The Battling Bishop baseball squad completed the three-game sweep of Eastern Mennonite on Saturday, downing the Royals by 7-4 and 12-1 scores in a chilly doubleheader.  Jonathan Lucas and Heath Bridgers each earned wins on the mound, while several Wesleyan batters enjoyed productive days at the plate.  The Bishops, currently ranked 7th nationally, are now 3-0 to start the season.

Much like Friday, the Bishop offense was able to capitalize on two crucial Royal errors in the first and third innings of game one.   In the bottom of the first, lead-off batter Chris Pecora walked, stole second, and eventually scored on a two-out fielding error by EMU.  Mark Wooten, who reached on the play, promptly stole second and scored on a Ted Williams single to center.

Wesleyan added another run in the third to ahead 3-0 when a dropped fly ball with two outs allowed Wooten to score from second.

The Royals’ got to NCWC starter Jonathan Lucas in the fourth, breaking through with two runs on two hits and a Bishop error.  Justin Kitts singled home Zach Polloni for EMU’s first run, while pinch runner Tom Houseal came around to score on the fielding error, unearned.

Up just 3-2, the Bishops answered with a three-spot in the bottom half of the inning.  Pecora, Williams, and Matt Smith each collected RBIs in the frame.  EMU then scored its final two runs in the fifth with Andrew Pittman ripping an RBI-single to center and Chad Lang earning a sac-fly.

The Bishops added an insurance run in the sixth for a 7-4 advantage, and closer Justin Batts did the rest by tossing a perfect seventh for his first save.

Lucas was credited with the win after allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits in four innings of work.  He also struck out four.  Senior Bill Campbell threw the fifth and sixth innings, giving up two runs on four hits.

Williams finished 2-for-2 with two walks and two RBIs to lead the Wesleyan offense.  Jameson Jarvis and Darin Moore each had two hits for the Royals.  As a team, EMU recorded nine hits to the Bishops’ eight.

EMU’s Brandon Zollman took the loss in the complete game effort, allowing seven runs (four earned).

In the second game, the Bishops exploded for seven runs in the third inning and did not look back en route to the 12-1 victory.  Pecora, Smith, and Nathan West were each 3-for-4 for Wesleyan with Pecora and West combining for five RBIs.  Joel Creef, Justin Tuck, and Tyler Goarck also chipped in two hits apiece for the Bishops, who ripped 16 hits as a team.

Starting pitcher Heath Bridgers struck out six and gave up just two hits in five innings of work in recording his first win of the season.  Freshman Doug Roenker tossed three innings, allowing just one unearned run on one hit, while senior Matt Bryan threw a scoreless ninth.

Justin Martin took the loss for the Royals after going just 2.2 innings and giving up seven earned runs on nine hits.  Zach Hawke, Jarvis, and Pittman collected EMU’s three hits.

Wesleyan returns to action on Sunday when the Bishops host Frostburg State University in an 11:00 a.m. doubleheader at Bauer Field.