WP: Lindsay (3-0)- 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
LP: Jamer (1-2)- 1.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
S: Wiseman (2)
HARRISONBURG, Va., July 17, 2015 – The Turks coasted to a 5-1 victory over the Charlottesville Tom Sox behind more early scoring and strong pitching on Friday night at Veterans Memorial Park.
Following a 12-3 in New Market last night in which they scored five runs in the first inning, the Turks scored four first inning runs in an impressive encore performance. Shane Billings, Steve McLean, Tyler Straub and Jesse Baker each crossed the plate.
With the win, the Turks move to 25-10 on the season and extend their lead in the VBL South division to 3 games thanks to Covington’s 3-1 win over Staunton. The Tom Sox drop to 15-18.
Seven Harrisonburg batters managed at least one hit with Straub (2-for-4 with a run scored and one RBI) and Jesse Baker (2-for-3 with a run scored and one RBI) collecting two.
Donte Lindsay earned his third win in as many games with another stellar performance. The lefty out of Bethune-Cookman lowered his ERA to 0.64 after striking out four over six scoreless innings. Patrick Wiseman got the call from the bullpen and kept the Tom Sox in check; the reliever held the opponents to one run in three innings of work.
The Turks added an insurance run in the second. Tripp Shelton got the inning started with a double to left, moved to third on Billing’s 4-3 groundout and was brought home on Straub’s double to straightaway center.
The early scoring forced Charlottesville starting pitcher Matt Jamer out of the game after only 1.2 innings. The VCU pitcher from Midlothian, Virginia allowed five runs (all earned) on seven hits in the short outing. In turn, Tad Ratliff was forced to pitch a long 5.1 innings out of the bullpen and did well, managing to hold the Turks to two hits. Zach Cook pitched a scoreless final frame for the Tom Sox despite giving up two hits.
Charlottesville attempted to mount a comeback in the seventh, but it would come up well short. Following walks to Ryan Larson and Colton Konvicka, Seth Lancaster singled to push across the team’s only run of the night.
The Turks return to action tomorrow night when they welcome the Waynesboro Generals for a 7:30 first pitch at Veterans Memorial Park. See you there and go Turks!