Weather may have shortened the game but it didn't dampen the Buccaneers' spirits as Beloit College baseball picked up an 8-0 win over La Roche.

Organizers of the RussMatt Invitational moved the game up an hour from its regularly scheduled slot at 9 a.m. Eastern to try and beat the rain. The weather would come in and force the game to be suspended in the top of the sixth but the Bucs plated eight runs before that point for a hefty win in the season opener. 

James Wicker set the tone with an infield single to open the game but it would take until the third frame for Beloit to push runs across. Greg Nelson opened the inning with a double to center field. AJ Fitzpatrick followed with the Bucs' first dinger of the season blasting a homerun over the left field wall to give Beloit a 2-0 lead. A hit batter and a walk loaded the bases and Wicker would end up touching home on an errant throw on a failed pickoff attempt. 

With the offense rolling, Beloit added four runs on three hits in the fourth. Back-to-back singles from Matt Crandall and Kruz Vargas chased the La Roche pitcher. With one one, Fitzpatrick put the ball in play and another error had two runners cross the plate. Wicker singled in the next at bat to plate two more and make it 7-0 Beloit. 

A pair of doubles, one from Crandall and the other from Deven Irwin, had the Bucs' eighth run coming in to score in the fifth. 

The weather worsened quickly with the game being called in the top of the sixth. 

Wicker and Crandall each tallied a pair of hits and two RBIs a piece to lead the Beloit offense. 

Jacob Sligar picked up the complete game win on the mound for the Bucs scattering five hits across five innings of work while striking out three in the shutout.  Read Full Article