The Beloit College baseball team swept a twinbill against Pitt-Greensburg Sunday evening in the squad's second day of competition in the RussMatt Invitational in Auburndale, Florida. The Buccaneers took the opener 6-2 and exploded for a 16-0 rout in the nightcap in the pair of seven inning contests.
The Bucs got their offense going right off the bat (pun intended).
Nick Schmidt led off the game with a single down the left field line.
Garrison Ferone followed with a single of his own beating out the bunt to put two runners on. Following an out, a wild pitch allowed both runners to advance into scoring position and
Mitch Campbell loaded the bases drawing a one-out walk.
Austin De La Cruz picked up the RBI taking one for the team on a hit-by-pitch.
Bronson Balholm was looking for his pitch with a 3-0 count and he found it blasting a three-RBI triple to right center to capitalize on the two free passes issues earlier in the inning.
Matt O'Leary plated the Bucs' fifth and final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to right field that brought in Balholm.
That was all the Bucs would need in the game but Beloit added an insurance run in the top of the second. Beloit's defense held the opposing offense off the scoreboard until the bottom of the sixth when Pitt-Greensburg plated their first run of the game. The Bobcats added another in the bottom of the seventh but the Bucs held on for the win.
Schmidt registered a fantastic game from the battere's box going 3-4 with two runs scored while
Justin Kopech picked up his first win of the season on the mound. Kopech went the distance striking out five and allowing five hits and two earned runs.
Beloit's offense continued to surge in game two as the Bucs scored in five of the team's six offensive frames including a seven-run second inning. The Bucs defense stymied their opponents blanking the Bobcats in the seven-inning game.
The Bucs were selective at the plate in game two making the most of their opportunities with three extra base knocks out of the ten hits for Beloit. The Bucs drew 12 walks and were hit-by-pitch three times in the contest.
Schmidt was a perfect 2-2 at the plate with three runs scored. The high scoring affair allowed Beloit to make a number of substitutions with the box score showing 21 Bucs seeing the field.
On the mound,
Connor McCloskey picked up the win in six innings of work throwing a three-hit shutout with five strikeouts.
Drew Freitag completed the shutout striking out two in the final inning.
The Bucs return to the Lake Myrtle Complex Monday for a matchup with RIT at 4:30 p.m. CT.
