Alwine Deals as 'Sox Prevail in Pitcher's Duel

By: Bryan Portney

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Evan Alwine threw seven strikeouts in seven innings as the Tom Sox defeated the Covington Lumberjacks 4-1 on Friday for its third win in a row.

It was the most strikeouts in an outing for Alwine in a ‘Sox uniform since he had nine on June 19, 2025, against Harrisonburg, and it was the longest appearance in his two-year Tom Sox career.

Before Alwine entered the mound, the bats gave him some run support in the top of the first with a four-pitch walk from Chase Jackson to make it a 1-0 lead.

During that sequence, Caiden Combs (Auburn) went home from third on a wild pitch that bounced in front of the Lumberjacks’ catcher and sailed over his head to the backstop for a 2-0 Tom Sox lead.

The ‘Sox drew three straight walks with two outs and four total in the frame. The offense has now enjoyed back-to-back games of scoring in the first inning.

Grayson McCollum (Kennesaw State) stole his eighth base of the year during the inning and is now tied for second on the team in that category with Will Yow (Virginia).

Alwine got to work in the bottom of the second with a looking strikeout for his first of the game. He went on to force a 1-2-3 inning in each of the first three frames.

Dom Cafferillo (Georgetown) and Tommy Landsnes extended their team-leading on-base streaks to nine games, as they both drew early walks.

Chase Jackson got the first hit of the night for the ‘Sox in the top of the fourth with a single up the middle to extend his hitting streak to four games in a row.

Meanwhile, on the mound, Alwine continued to shove his way out of traffic in the bottom of the fourth by responding to a leadoff single with two strikeouts in another shutout frame.

At the end, Alwine earned his second quality start in his Tom Sox career, with the first coming on June 19, 2025, against Harrisonburg. He joins Lucas Cash (Bridgewater) as the only ‘Sox pitchers with quality starts this year.

Anthony Mancini (Saint Peter’s) and Asher Sabom dealt in relief from the eighth inning on. Even though a passed ball gave Covington a run, the pitching staff stayed out of trouble the rest of the way.

The pitching and defense delivered for the Tom Sox in clutch situations, as Covington went 0-for-11 with runners on and 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Cafferillo added some insurance for the ‘Sox in the top of the ninth with a leadoff solo home run. It was his first home run in any level since February 28 for Georgetown in a win over FDU.

Luke Craddock drove in another run on a double to the center-field wall to make it a 4-1 lead.

The punctuation mark of the game came on a backhand play from Xavier McCoury (Liberty) at second on a throw to first that sealed the deal for pitching dominance.

UP NEXT: The Tom Sox (10-11) will return home to take on the Waynesboro Generals (15-6) on Saturday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. EST.