Brevard, N.C. – The Brevard College men’s baseball team continued to struggle offensively on Wednesday afternoon, as the Tornados dropped both games of a double-header to the Cavaliers of UVA Wise. 

 

The Tornados lost in a nail-bitter in game one, falling 6-5 to the Cavaliers. In game two, the Tornados could not overcome an early deficit, dropping the contest 4-2.

 

 

In game one, the Tornados used a five run fifth inning to battle back into the contest, only to have the Cavaliers scored the final two runs of the game and come away with the 6-5 win.

 

The Cavaliers got on the board first, pushing across three runs in the top of the third on BC starter Ryan Toney. On the inning UVA Wise had fourth hits with the biggest being a two-out double to right field by Josh Verts that plated two Cavaliers to give UVA Wise an early 3-0 lead.

 

UVA Wise added a run in the fourth on a Luis Roa sacrifice fly to center field that scored Edwin Narvaez from third, who had reached base on a double to center field to lead off the inning.

 

However, the Tornados down 4-0 did not give in, as BC batted around in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five runs on four hits and one UVA-Wise error.

 

Left-fielder Zac Williams, who batted twice in the inning, led off the inning with a single to third. After second-baseman Adam Arrowood drew a base-on-balls, junior Brice Warner laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Williams over to third and Arrowood to second with only one out.

 

Senior catcher Seth Corliss then walked to load the bases for the Tornados. After a BC strikeout, freshman first-baseman Matt Rose then singled to center field to score both Williams and Arrowood and cut the UVA Wise lead to 4-2.

 

Short-stop Mitch Hefner followed with an RBI single up the middle to plate Corliss and keep the inning alive for BC.   Junior third-baseman Spencer Linn then sent a shot down the right field line to drive in two runs and give the Tornados the 5-4 lead.

 

Yet the Cavaliers scored the final two runs of the game, one in the sixth and the seventh, to come away with a 6-5 win.

 

The win went to Josh Verts (2-0), as the sophomore who started the game at third-base, came in to pitch the last two innings, where he allowed only one hit while striking out two BC hitters.

 

The loss went to BC’s Luke Smithson (0-2), who allowed one run on one hit and one inning of relief work for the Tornados.

BC starter Ryan Toney got the no decision, as he went five innings allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out three.

 

BC’s Linn was 2-4 with a double and two RBIs at the dish, while fellow infielder Mitch Hefner was 2-4, with an RBI and a run scored. Freshman Rose was 1-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.

 

For UVA Wise, short-stop Jorge Laboy was 2-4 with a double and two runs scored, while Narvaez was 2-4 with a double and one run scored. Verts was 1-4 with a double and two RBIs, while left-fielder Brad Austin was 1-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

 

 

In game two of the twin bill, the Tornados fell behind 4-0 early and couldn’t make up ground, falling to the Cavaliers 4-2.

 

UVA Wise jumped out of the gates scoring three runs in the top of the first highlighted by a Matt Duffy single which plated two UVA runners to take an early 3-0 lead on the Tornados.

 

UVA Wise added a run in the third on another Duffy RBI single to increase the Cavs lead to four after three.

 

BC pushed across two runs in the bottom of the sixth as Mitch Hefner, who had singled to right earlier in the inning, scored on a wild pitch and sophomore Zac Williams had an RBI single to cut the UVA Wise lead in half at 4-2.

 

However, UVA Wise’s Brock Funk (2) worked a 1-2-3 seventh to pick up his second save of the season and preserve the win for the Cavaliers.

 

The win went to left-handed hurler Scott Cole (3-3), who gave up two runs on six hits while striking out seven BC hitters over six innings of action.

 

The loss went to BC’s Matt Castro (2-2), as the junior right-hander struggled with his control, giving up four runs on six hits and walking four in 3.1 innings on the mound.

 

At the plate, sophomore Brice Warner was 2-4, while Adam Arrowood was 1-3 with a double. Hefner and Linn were both 1-3 with a run scored for the game.

 

UVA Wise was led by Duffy, who was 3-4 with three RBIs. Left-fielder Brad Robbins was 2-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored.

 

The Tornados (9-25) will return to action this weekend, as BC will play host to the Pioneers of Tusculum College. The two teams will play a double-header on Saturday afternoon with the first game slated for a 12 p.m. start time.

 

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