Baseball hosted Richard Bland on a rainy weekend at JP Riddle. The Trojans swept the first two games on Saturday to take the series and move up to third place in Region 10 DII East standings.
FTCC vs. Richard Bland
Game One- 5-1, Win:
The Trojans scored first in the bottom of the third inning. Derrick Hall (Fayetteville, NC) led off the inning with a single to center field and Jaylon Woodley (Courtland, VA) reached on a Statesmen error. The Trojans plated their first run on a first and third play where Woodley stole second base, which allowed Hall to score from third. Woodley then scored to make it 2-0 on an RBI groundball from Mason Turner (Lexington, SC).
The Statesmen scored one run in the fourth to make it a one run ball game going into a rain delay.
After tarping the field and waiting for the rain to pass, the Trojans came back out hot scoring three runs in the eighth to secure their victory.
With two outs, Caleb Holland (Fayetteville, NC) was hit by a pitch. Zamar Lewis (Dublin, NC) came up big and hit a two-run shot over the left field fence to give the Trojans some security runs. Wilmer Cuevas (Brentwood, NY) followed Lewis with his own solo homerun.
The Trojans broke the program wins record at FTCC for baseball beating Richard Bland 5-1.
Holland started on the mound throwing 3.2 innings of work giving up four hits and one run. Ben Rorhbach (Stafford, VA) pitched the next 3.2 innings getting three strikeouts before Matthew Roberts (Canton, NC) closed out the final 1.2 innings allowing no hits.
Zavion Ingram (Clayton, NC) was 2-3 at the plate with a triple and Woodley had two stolen bases.
Game Two- 7-2, Win:
The Statesmen took their first lead of the day scoring one run in the top of the first inning.
The Trojans took the lead back in the bottom of the second and never lost it for the remainder of the seven-inning contest.
With one out in the second, Braylan Bull (Cumming, GA) drew a five-pitch walk before Ingram singled for his third hit of the day. Hall hit a hard ground ball to right field to plate Bull and tie the game at one. The Trojans then ran another first and third play allowing Ingram to cross home plate as Hall stole second base to take the lead.
The Trojans had their biggest inning of the day in the bottom of the fourth when they scored five runs on three hits. Cuevas singled to start off the inning and get the rally going. Bull laid down a sacrifice bunt and Ingram, with his second hit of the game, scored Cuevas from third base. Hall walked and Devin Outlaw (Jacksonville, FL) hit an RBI ground ball to plate Ingram. Woodley was then walked and Biz Ortiz (Eastover, NC) was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. Holland singled to right field to score one and Lewis walked for an RBI.
Richard Bland scored one more run in the top of the seventh, but was unable to catch the Trojan lead.
Brett Alvis (Hanover, VA) pitched a complete six innings for the Trojans. He gave up four hits and two runs while striking out 11.
Ingram again went 2-3 in the game and Holland had two RBIs.
Game Three- 1-11, Loss 6-innings:
The Statesmen came out on Sunday as a different team taking the lead early and never losing it, ending the game in six-innings.
Richard Bland scored one run in the top of the first and then exploded for eight runs in the third.
The Trojans scored their one and only run of the game in the third inning. Aaron Graves (Upper Marlboro, MD) doubled down the left field line and Outlaw hit him in on his single to right field.
The Statesmen scored two more runs in the sixth to enforce the run-rule and the Trojans were unable to stop it in the bottom of the inning.
Rob Willis (Montgomery, AL) started on the bump giving up six hits and one earned run. Xander Davis (Carolina Beach, NC) finished out the final 3.1 innings allowing six hits, two earned runs and getting five strikeouts.
Baseball plays at home on Wednesday, April 24 when they host NJCAA DI #2 Gaston College at 3pm for a non-conference game. They are on the road this weekend to Pitt Community College for their last road conference series. The first pitch Saturday will be at 12pm starting the doubleheader followed by a single game Sunday at 1pm.
Baseball Schedule