HARRISONBURG, Va. – With both teams hot off a victory last night, the Tom Sox (3-3) headed to Harrisonburg to face the Turks (3-2) in search of their fourth straight win. However, after eight and a half innings of scoreless baseball, the Turks were able to walk it off and win 1-0.
The ‘Sox started off the game strong, retiring the Turks with a double play to end the first inning. The double play was one of a number of defensive highlights made by Charlottesville, as a flip play from Kyle Edwards (Old Dominion)early in the contest also drew gasps from the crowd.
The Tom Sox felt a sweat as the Turks loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fourth. But they didn’t let it shake them as Hunter Teplanszky (TCU) made the first out and passed it to Garrett Spikes (Georgia) for the double play, closing the inning and leaving the ducks on the pond.
With some momentum finally present on the field, Kyle Joye (Wake Forest) reached on a ground ball right over second base for a single. With John Newton (UNC Wilmington) at bat, Joye was able to reach second base on a wild pitch; only to find himself stranded on second as Newton grounded out to close the top of the fifth.
Charlottesville starter Tom Vincent (Rice) ended his outing with four walks, two strikeouts, and two hits, and kept his season ERA of 0.00. After reaching his 70-pitch count, he was relieved by Charleston’s Emmett Bice, who tossed a scoreless inning and a third to keep it knotted at zero apiece.
Jack Billings (Coastal Carolina) charged out of the bullpen in the seventh inning with back-to-back strikeouts, taking back the momentum for the ‘Sox with a quick bottom of the seventh. After Harrisonburg’s Jake Stadler reached on a dropped fly ball by left fielder Joye, Billings struck out Sam Schner to get out of the seventh unscathed.
With still no runs on the board, the ‘Sox entered the ninth inning with yet another double play, trapping the Turks’ Matt Kemp between third and home, where he ran back and forth only to accept defeat by Kyle Edwards, who finally tagged him out.
After a truly action-devoid game, the ‘Sox could not hold off the Turks in the bottom of the 9th. Justin Humenay (VCU) took the mound for his first appearance of the year, quickly giving up a leadoff single to Matthew Mamatas on his first pitch of the inning. After Christian Ficca was hit by a pitch, Casey Smith – the hero from the season opener – grounded out to move the runners to second and third. After an intentional walk to set up a force play, Schner sent a ground ball to third base to bring home the winning – and only – run of the night.
The ‘Sox hope to bring back their momentum in a doubleheader tomorrow against the New Market Rebels. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 4 P.M., and admission is free courtesy of Carter Bank and Trust.
Additional Notes
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Harrisonburg’s Evan Smith tossed a complete game on the mound. He is the third pitcher to throw a nine-inning complete game against the Tom Sox, and the first since Waynesboro’s Fred Villarreal in 2018. Smith allowed only two hits, the fewest of any. He threw a “Maddux”, a complete game shutout with under 100 pitches.
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Both of the Tom Sox’s games against Harrisonburg this season have been walk-off losses.
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Only five Tom Sox reached base. Satchell Norman reached twice and extended his on-base streak to seven games, the longest on the team.
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The final time of game was two hours and nine minutes, the 12th-fastest nine-inning game in team history.
