The Brevard College baseball team (13-7, 2-1 USA South) used a four-run fifth inning to retake the lead for good in a rubber match in the series finale against Maryville College (11-6, 1-2 USAS) to clinch a USA South Conference series win on Sunday afternoon at Gil Coan Field.
With the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth, catcher Christian Ezzell launched a critical three-run home run over the left-field wall, as Brevard went on to outscore the Scots 6-1 down the stretch to claim the 10-5 victory.
Every Tornado in the starting lineup recorded a base hit to contribute to a 16-hit performance by the BC offense. Outfielder Logan Clark and freshman infielder Cale Oehler each posted three-hit performances with a double, with Clark scoring a pair of runs and stealing two bases. Oehler, also scored twice and tallied an RBI. Zach Allison, Peter Fumero, and Ryan Leiman all recorded doubles, while Allison logged a pair of RBI. Blake Burchett increased his USA South-leading stolen base total to 20 with a pair of swiped bags, while BC’s defense turned three double plays.
Cameron Cook (3-1) earned the start for Brevard, logging a career-high seven innings of work. The sophomore right-handed pitcher allowed three earned runs while striking out three batters in his third win of the 2022 season. Noah Webb, the reigning USA South Rookie Pitcher of the Week, threw the final two innings of the contest, holding the Scots scoreless while striking out three batters.
Maryville plated the game’s first run on a double play, as BC conceded the run in exchange for a pair of outs. Brevard was able to answer back immediately in the bottom of the second inning, striking for three runs. Oehler led off the frame with a double that was followed by Fumero’s RBI double that tied the contest at 1-1. After a pair of outs, BC strung together a two-out rally with Allison’s RBI double, who then scored on a wild pitch to put the Tornados up 3-1.
BC turned double plays in the top of the third and fourth innings before Jucker tallied an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth to extend the Tornado lead to a 4-1 margin. Maryville used a double and triple to get its first run in the top of the fifth across, and kept chipping away with an RBI groundout and an error to tie things up at 4-4.
Brevard got runners on second and third and one out before Ezzell launched his third home run of the season to put the Tornados back on top, 7-4. BC used Leiman’s double, a stolen base, and a sacrifice fly to tack on an insurance run to its lead, pushing the advantage to a four-run margin.
BC scored a run in the bottom of the sixth on Oehler’s RBI single, but the Scots answered back in the top of the seventh with a run on a throwing error to pull back within four runs, 9-5. Clark reached base on an errant throw after a swinging strikeout and stole home in a unique sequence of events to give BC all the insurance it would need to wrap up the victory and the home conference series win, 10-5.
The Tornados return to action with a three-game road trip to Piedmont University, with the series kicking off on Friday, March 25 at 7 p.m.