BREVARD, N.C. – The Brevard College baseball team (10-7, 3-0 USAS) completed a three-game sweep in the first USA South Conference series of the 2024 campaign, knocking off Southern Virginia University (2-9, 0-3 USAS) 12-10 in game two of the series, followed by a narrow 4-3 victory in the series finale on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Gil Coan Field.
   
The Tornados and Knights played a wild one in the first contest of the twin bill, as the two sides combined for 22 runs on 27 hits.
 
The Knights hit a three-run homer in the top of the first to take an early 3-0 advantage. BC answered with an RBI single by Frankie Vasquez that plated Lucas Granata. SVU's Nick Daynes continued his torrid start to the contest, following his first-inning three-run shot up with an RBI double in the top of the third, while SVU used a RBI single later in the frame to extend its lead to a 5-1 margin.
 
Brevard responded in a big way in the bottom of the third inning, stringing together a seven-run frame to flip the script in the early stages of action. Granata kicked things off with a leadoff single followed by a walk drawn by Luke Morton. After a fly out that advanced Granata to third base, Morton stole second and Cale Oehler roped a two-RBI single to center field, cutting the deficit to two runs, 5-3.
 
Vasquez followed suit with a walk, and CP Pyle plated Oehler with an RBI single. Gavin McCoy was hit by a pitch to load the bases up, and Hayden Jennings began his big performance at the plate with a two-RBI single that gave Brevard a 6-5 edge.
 
Following Logan Sawyer's infield bunt single, Granata drew a bases-loaded walk in his second at-bat of the inning, and Morton hit a sacrifice fly to cap off the big seven-run third for the Tornados, who found themselves up 8-5 after the dust settled.
 
Marcelino Leonardo Jr. rifled SVU's second three-run homer of the game, chasing Jacob Thompson out of the game as the score was tied back up, 8-8 after the top of the fifth. McCoy kicked the bottom of the fifth off by drawing his second HBP of the game, and a costly fielder's choice error and passed ball by the Knights led to two runs, as Brevard surged back ahead 10-8. Dual-sport athlete Jordan Rowell scored his first collegiate run in the inning.
 
BC held its lead through seven frames, but Kalen Milstead was touched up in the top of the eighth by a pair of one-out walks. Zack Geertson roped a two-RBI double into the right-center field gap off of reliever Cameron Cook (1-0), but the senior RHP limited the damage there as the game remained tied 10-10.
 
Pyle kickstarted BC's game-winning eight-inning rally with a single, and freshman Easton King fired his first career RBI triple over the right fielder's head, bringing Pyle across as the go-ahead run for the Tornados. Senior outfielder Joc Pledger pinch ran for King and came across to score on a two-out RBI single by Sawyer, giving the Tornados all the insurance that they would need.
 
Ethan Coleman dominated in the ninth to nail down his second save of the season, striking out a pair of Knights looking to clinch a series win for the Tornados.
 
Jennings, Morton, and Pyle all recorded three hits each, with Jennings, King, and Pyle logging extra-base hits. Granata, Jennings, and Oehler all drove in two runs each, with Granata, Jennings, and Pyle coming across to score twice. Cook was the pitcher of record for the Tornados, earning his first win of the season.
   
Freshman right-handed pitcher Blake Altschuler turned in the most impressive performance of his young career, hurling a gem of eight innings with five strikeouts, allowing seven hits and two runs.
 
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Matthew Evans earned the save, working an inning and closing the door following a late SVU rally.
 
Clark, Jennings, Morton, and Vasquez recorded BC's hits in the second game, while Vasquez hit a two-RBI single. Clark and Oehler drove in BC's other two runs, with Granata coming around to score twice.
 
Altschuler, the reigning back-to-back USA South Conference Rookie Pitcher of the Week, sat down the first seven Knights that he faced while BC built an early 4-0 lead behind a sacrifice fly in the first and a pair of RBI singles in the third - one being Vasquez's two-RBI knock.
 
SVU was scoreless until the top of the sixth when Ryan Farris launched a two-run homer to left field. Altschuler limited the damage, holding Southern Virginia in check down the stretch.
 
Evans came in for the save opportunity in the top of the ninth and forced a pair of 4-3 ground outs, getting the Tornados within an out of the series sweep. However, a walk, wild pitch, and throwing error put runners on the corners, and Leonardo Jr. roped an RBI double down the left field line that put the tying and go-ahead runners into scoring position. Evans forced a fly out to center to end the game and hand Brevard the series sweep.
 
Brevard is back in action on Saturday, March 23, as the Tornados kick off a three-game conference series with Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, North Carolina. The three-game set begins with a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.
 
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