HARRISONBURG, Va. — It was a warm night on the road at Veterans Memorial Field as the Charlottesville Tom Sox (6-3) were looking to flip the script against the Harrisonburg Turks (5-4) after falling to them this past Sunday in Charlottesville. But an early offensive spark by Harrisonburg and a cold night for Charlottesville’s bats powered the Turks to a dominant 10-1 victory.
After a lead-off hit-by-pitch that sent Ryan Wynn (Wofford) to first base to start the game, the Tom Sox then went down 1-2-3 to end the frame.
Hutson Trobaugh (Old Dominion) was on the bump for the ‘Sox coming off a dominant victory where he went three-and-a-third innings pitched with eight strikeouts.
But after a strikeout to the first batter, the Turks went on to trounce Trobaugh, nearly batting around the order with three hits, three walks, and plating four runs in the bottom half of the frame.
Chase Stryker (Coastal Carolina) came in to relieve Trobaugh and end the early jam as Robbie Lavey (George Washington) gunned down the Turks’ Brett Wehringer’s stolen base attempt.
After a Gavin Miller (Houston) fly out to start the second, Ethan Gibson (Virginia Tech) got on via walk and David Wiley (Wofford) got the only hit off of Harrisonburg’s starter Carson Morton. But Charlottesville’s rally was short-lived as Morton would go on to retire the next two batters.
The Turks got to Stryker early in the bottom of the second after a double off the bat of Anthony Paskell, who then scored immediately on an RBI single by Chris Katz making it a 5-0 game.
That’d be the only run Stryker would give up as he went three-and-a-third innings pitched, only yielding one more hit and striking out three batters.
The bottom half of Harrisonburg’s fourth frame ended with Lavey catching another Turk stealing attempt for his second of the night.
The only run of the night for the Tom Sox came in the fifth inning as Landon Bruce (San Jacinto) walked, stole second base, then advanced to third as the throw sailed into center field. Bruce came in to score on a Wynn ground out to first making it 5-1.
Ayden Alexander (George Washington) came in to relieve Stryker in the bottom of the fifth but beaned his first batter and walked the next. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners over, Jalen Evans hit a sacrifice fly to stretch Harrisonburg’s lead to 6-1.
Alexander would strike out the next four hitters, ending his night after two innings on the hill.
Landon Abrahamson (Patrick Henry) came on in the seventh for Charlottesville allowing one hit, one run, and one walk while striking out three batters.
For Harrisonburg in relief of Morton, Hudson Lee came in to go four strong innings, striking out seven Tom Sox hitters and only walking one.
The bottom half of the eighth got a bit messy for the Tom Sox as Will Banks (Davidson) allowed three runs on two hits as the Charlottesville defense committed all three of their errors in the game, allowing the Turks to deliver the final blow making it 10-1.
The Sox have now fallen to Harrisonburg in back-to-back matchups as the Turks sit one game back in the standings.
UP NEXT:
Charlottesville will hit the road to face the Staunton Braves at John Moxie Memorial Stadium on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- Harrisonburg has won five-straight games in the series dating back to last season.
- Charlottesville had outscored opponents 17-0 in the first inning prior to Harrisonburg’s four runs.
- Harrisonburg is the only team to score double-digit runs on Charlottesville, doing so twice in four days. They are also the only opponent to out-hit the ‘Sox on the year.
- The Tom Sox scored their fewest runs since being limited to only one in their last regular season matchup at Veterans Memorial Park last season.
- The three sacrifice flies allowed by Charlottesville pitching set a new team record.
