POWER SURGE: Bishops club five homers, repeat as USAS champs

There was a big power surge at Bauer Field in Rocky Mount on Saturday, and it came from the North Carolina Wesleyan University baseball team.

The Bishops clubbed five home runs, including a grand slam, and dominated Brevard 17-2 in seven innings to repeat as USA South Conference Tournament champions.

With the clean sweep of the No. 2 seed Tornados, the top-seeded Bishops (33-11) earn a return trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament which begins on Friday, and championship bracket games will take place May 31-June 6 at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio.

Wesleyan, who pounded out 16 hits (nine for extra bases), got the offensive barrage started early as it took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning on the first homer, a three-run blast from Blake Scott to left field. Scott’s round-tripper came after Tyson Bass doubled to left with one out and Jackson Hobbs was hit by a pitch.

The Bishops then added six runs in the top of the second frame on an RBI double from Drifton Padgett that brought in Maison Nance (double), a two-run homer from Tournament Most Valuable Player Tyson Bass (his 20th of the season), an RBI single from Davie Morgan that brought home Hobbs (single) and a two-run single by Alex Moskal that plated Morgan and Scott to make it 9-0.

A solo homer from Hobbs started the five-run fourth inning for Wesleyan. After Morgan (walk), Moskal (hit by pitch) and Scoggins (walk) got on base, Jaiden Barker followed with a two-out, grand slam home run to left centerfield, extending the Bishops advantage to 14-0.

Brevard’s only two runs came in the form of a two-run home run by Coleson Miller in the bottom of the fourth as the Tornados still trailed 14-2.

The Bishops came right back in the top of the fifth with their final three runs.

With one out, Scott walked, Morgan singled through the left side and Moskal launched a three-run homer over the Bauer Field scoreboard in right field to increase Wesleyan’s lead to 15 runs.

Brevard (22-19) threatened to extend the game when it loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh on a double by Mycah Johnson and walks to Davis Bryson and Luke Morton. A fly out to right (Bass) and a fielder’s choice (Nance to Morgan) ended the game via the mercy rule.

Chandler Padgett improved to 7-1 with a solid, 119-pitch performance for Wesleyan. He went all seven innings and allowed just five hits and two earned runs with seven strikeouts and four walks.

Hobbs led Wesleyan at the plate by going 3-for-4 with an RBI.

Drifton Padgett (RBI), Bass (two RBI), Morgan (RBI), Alex Moskal (five RBI), Barker (four RBI) and Nance provided two hits each, while Scott collected the other hit.

After the final out, the Bishops stormed out of the dugout and celebrated with a massive dogpile near the pitcher’s mound. Head Coach Greg Clifton was doused with the Gatorade bucket and the Bishops took the selfie of all selfies with the USAS Conference Tournament trophy.

GAME ONE

Wesleyan 8, Brevard 3

Tyson Bass smashed his 18th and 19th home runs of the year and Cord Butler worked seven solid innings on the mound for his 11th victory as the top-seeded Bishops (32-11) defeated Brevard 8-3 Friday night in Game One of the USAS Tournament Championship Series at Bauer Field.

Butler (11-0) pitched seven innings and allowed six hits and three earned runs with 10 strikeouts and four walks for Wesleyan. Dylan Cheeley added two strong frames in relief, allowing just one hit while striking out four of the seven batters he faced.

The No. 2 seed Tornados took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but Wesleyan used a sacrifice fly from Jackson Hobbs to tie it in the bottom half of the inning. Davie Morgan’s single to centerfield plated Blake Scott to make it 2-1.

Coleson Miller’s solo home run in the top of the second inning tied it at 2-all, but the Bishops took the lead for good on a three-run homer by Bass to left centerfield, his 18th of the season.

The home team added to its lead in the third when Maison Nance was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in Scott for a 6-2 advantage.

An RBI single from Logan Clark got Brevard to within three (6-3) in the fifth, but Bass answered with his second homer of the game, a two-run shot in the sixth after Drifton Padgett’s double, to extend the Bishops’ lead to five runs.

Bass and Padgett led Wesleyan with two hits each while Scott (double), Morgan and Jaiden Barker provided the other hits.

C.P. Pyle, Clark and Miller each had two hits for Brevard (22-18).