Hampden-Sydney Baseball

BASEBALL TIGERS EARN NON-CONFERENCE SWEEP OF FERRUM

FERRUM, VA (April 5, 2008)—The Hampden-Sydney baseball team received solid performances from there starting pitchers as sophomore John West (Lanexa, VA/Lafayette) and freshman Adam Hodges (Rocky Mount, NC/Rocky Mount Academy) earned complete-game victories to lead the Tigers to a series sweep of Ferrum College on Saturday evening. In the first game, the Tigers held an early 3-0 lead and exploded for five runs in the top of the sixth inning to claim a 9-0 win. In the second game, the Tigers trailed Ferrum by one run heading into the top of the fifth inning, but Hampden-Sydney scored three runs in the fifth to help capture a 5-3 win. With the sweep, Hampden-Sydney improves to 15-19 on the season, while Ferrum drops to 7-15 overall.

In first game, the Tigers took an early 1-0 as Luke Swiney (Richmond, VA/Mills Godwin) on a single by Zach Harrelson (Danville, VA/George Washington) in the top of the first inning. In the top of the fifth inning, Hampden-Sydney would extend their lead as Todd Harrell (Chesapeake, VA/Nansemond-Suffolk) and Hall Toledano (Asheboro, NC/Asheboro) scored to give the Tigers a 3-0 advantage. The Tigers exploded for five runs in the top of the sixth inning to take an 8-0 lead and added one more in the top of the seventh to push the final score to 9-0.

Tiger starter John West earned the win for Hampden-Sydney. The sophomore worked all seven innings, allowing no runs on eight hits and no walks. West struck out three Panthers' batters. Lincoln Garner took the loss for the Panthers, giving up four runs on nine hits in five innings work.

In the second game, Hampden-Sydney took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Ferrum answered with two runs of their own in the bottom portion of the first to take a 2-1 lead. Trailing 2-1 after four innings, the Tigers scored three runs in the top of the fifth on a three-run homer by senior David Toney (Mechanicsville, VA/Lee-Davis) to take a 4-2 lead. Ferrum would cut the lead to one run, 4-3, with a single run in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Tigers answered with a run in the seventh which proved to be more than enough as Hampden-Sydney went on for the 5-3 win.

Freshman starter Adam Hodges earned the win for the Tigers as he gave up three runs on five hits in seven innings of action. Ferrum's Jon Wilson took the loss for the Panthers, giving up five runs on eight hits in seven innings of work.

On the afternoon, Hampden-Sydney was led at the plate by David Toney as the senior catcher went 3-for-5 with five RBI and two runs scored, including a double and a three-run homer. Zach Harrelson went 5-for-8 for the Tigers with four RBI, while Luke Swiney went 3-for-7 with two runs scored. Also producing for the Tigers at the plate were Hall Toledano as he went 2-for-7 with four runs scored and one RBI and Todd Harrell as he was 2-for-8 with three runs scored and three RBI.

Hampden-Sydney will return to action on Tuesday, April 8, as the Tigers will welcome Lynchburg College to Yank Bernier Field for an Old Dominion Athletic Conference match-up. First pitch for Tuesday's contest is scheduled for 3:30 pm.

-www.hsc.edu/athletics-