ASHLAND, Va. – Sophomore
Carter Schmitt (Glen Allen, Va./St. Christopher's) belted a grand slam with two away in the sixth to erase a 4-3 deficit as the 20th-ranked Randolph-Macon baseball team rallied past No. 10 Christopher Newport 8-4 on Wednesday afternoon to conclude its regular season.
The Basics:
Score: Randolph-Macon 8, Christopher Newport 4
Venue: Hugh Stephens Field at Estes Park
Records: RMC 26-11, CNU 24-9
How It Happened:
- The Captains plated two in the first and one in the second to take the early advantage. Junior Chaz Harvey (Charlottesville, Va./Miller School) lifted a homer to right in the fourth, his 10th dinger of the season, as the Yellow Jackets pulled within two at 3-1.
- CNU added a run in the top of the fifth before RMC responded in the bottom of the frame. Senior Grayson Bush (Charlottesville, Va./Monticello) drew a leadoff walk and scored on a one-out double off the bat of freshman Jon Quici (Paoli, Pa./Conestoga) to make it 4-2.
- The Yellow Jackets would take the lead for good in the sixth. Freshman Zach Wernoski (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill) reached on an error to start the inning and went to third on a pinch-hit single by senior Matt Myers (Hampstead, Md./Manchester Valley). After Myers stole second, senior Richie Dudley (Fairfax, Va./W.T. Woodson) walked to load the bases. Bush singled to drive in Wernoski and make it 4-3. With two away, Schmitt belted a grand slam to right, his second home run of the season, to give the home team a 7-4 advantage.
- Junior Michael Shanahan (Fredericksburg, Va./Massaponox) took the mound in the sixth and pitched three perfect innings, fanning six of the nine batters he faced. He raised his record to 2-0.
- RMC added an insurance run in the eighth. Sophomore Jordan Hill (Norfolk, Va./Granby) worked a leadoff walk and was sacrificed to second by Bush. After stealing third, Hill scored on a two-out double by Quici as the lead grew to 8-4.
- Junior Sam Slevin (Virginia Beach, Va./Frank Cox) worked a hitless ninth with one strikeout to preserve the victory.
By The Numbers
- The Yellow Jackets are 24-0 when leading after seven innings.
- RMC is 21-1 when holding opponents to five runs or less.
- Six Yellow Jacket pitchers combined to record 13 strikeouts.
- Wernoski went 2 for 4 with a run. He has reached base in 34 straight games. Wernoski is second on the team with 17 multi-hit games.
- With his grand slam, Schmitt has taken over the team lead with 10 multiple RBI games. He has reached base in 19 straight games.
- Quici went 2 for 5 with two doubles, one run and two RBI.
For The Record
- The first regional rankings were released by the NCAA. CNU was first in the region, followed by RMC. North Carolina Wesleyan was third, followed by Centre, Birmingham-Southern, Shenandoah and Berry.
Up Next
Top-seeded RMC will host eighth-seeded Washington and Lee on Hugh Stephens Field at Estes Park in a best-of-three quarterfinal series in the ODAC Championship. Game 1 will be on Friday, May 3, at 3:30 p.m. Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday, May 4, at noon. If Game 3 is necessary, it will follow Game 2.
