Beausoleil’s grand slam secures baseball split with Piedmont

Rocky Mount, NC - Thanks to junior Travis Beausoleil’s fifth inning grand slam, the diamond Bishops of North Carolina Wesleyan earned an 10-3 victory over Piedmont College on Sunday at Bauer Field. Beausoleil (pictured) finished with five RBI on the day and helped the Bishops salvage a two-game split with the Lions, who took Saturday’s contest by a 5-3 score.  Wesleyan improves to 5-2 overall, while Piedmont suffers its first loss of the season and now stands at 5-1.

The Bishops took an early 1-0 lead in the first without the benefit of a hit. Leadoff hitter Chris Pecora drew a walk and promptly stole second. He later advanced to third on a balk and scored on a sacrifice fly by Justin Batts.

After being held to just one hit over the first three innings, Piedmont stormed back with three runs on five hits in the fourth. Bishop hurler Ben Moore eventually got out of a bases loaded jam with a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Wesleyan cut into the 3-1 Lion lead with a run in their half of the frame, and NCWC then exploded for six runs in the fifth. Luke Williford’s RBI-single to left knotted the game at 3-3, while Justin Tuck gave the Bishops a 4-3 lead with an RBI-single of his own. 

Two batters later, Beausoleil provided the game’s big blast with his grand slam to right that essentially put the game out of reach. The homerun was his second of the season.  Wesleyan later got a two-run double from senior Ted Williams to secure the 10-3 final.

Moore (1-1) went on to earn the win, allowing three runs on nine hits in seven complete. Andy Graf took the loss for Piedmont after giving up six runs (four earned) on just four hits in 4.1 innings of work.

Matt DeVito went 4-for-4 with an RBI for the Lions, while Beausoleil and Williford each ripped two hits for the Bishops.

On Saturday, the Lions were able to pull off the 5-3 win thanks to an unearned run in the seventh inning and an insurance run in the eighth.  The two squads had entered the seventh tied 3-3 after Williford scored Pecora in the sixth.  Unfortunately, two Bishop errors in the following frame gave Piedmont a lead that it would not relinquish. DeVito’s RBI-double provided the insurance run. 

David Krasnoweicki took the tough loss for Wesleyan, going an inning and a third and allowing two runs (one earned).  He relieved starter Justin Diener, who gave up three runs in six complete. Spencer Shelton picked up the win and Tom Dimitroff the save for Piedmont.

Pecora paced the Bishop offense with a 3-for-3 showing at the plate.

Wesleyan returns to action next Friday at 3:00 p.m. when top-ranked Cortland State visits Bauer Field. The Bishops then host a three-game set with Old Westbury beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

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