WILSON, NC -- Jon Serrano's (Brooke Point/Stafford, VA) sacrifice fly scored Mike Spry (Kent County/Chestertown, MD) in the eighth inning and broke a 4-4 tie to lift Shepherd College to a 6-4 win over Barton College in baseball action on Monday afternoon in the season opener for the Rams.
The Rams took a 2-1 lead in the third when Brian Powell (Allegany (Allegany College)/Cumberland, MD) led off with a double and Spry followed with a single. Jake Ellifritz's (Keyser (Potomac State/Coastal Carolina)/Keyser, WV) sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third. Powell scored on a Jason Rhea (Berkeley Springs (WV) (Pensacola JC)/Abington, VA) ground out and Spry later scored on a wild pitch.
Ben Massey belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to give Barton a 3-2 advantage.
The Rams answered back in the top of the sixth when Ellifritz singled to score Powell and Rhea singled to plate Spry to give the Rams a 4-3 lead.
The Bulldogs tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth on a solo homer by Chris Scott to set the stage for Shepherd's late-inning heroics.
The Rams added an insurance in the ninth when Jimmy Jackson (Old Mill/Millersville, MD) tripled and scored on a Lucas Taylor (Keyser (Davis & Elkins)/Keyser, WV) single.
Ellifritz, Powell, and Spry each had two hits to pace the Ram offense.
Preston Miller (Turner Ashby/Harrisonburg, VA) started for the Rams and recorded five strikeouts in six innings. Justin Collins (Fallston/Forest Hill, MD) pitched a scoreless seventh inning to gain the victory. Jackson worked the final two innings to pick up the save. Barton starter Scott McIver suffered the loss.
Shepherd moves to 1-0, while Barton falls to 11-6. The Rams will play a doubleheader against the Bulldogs on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m.
Shepherd 000 202 011 6 10 3
Barton 010 021 000 4 6 1
McIver, Boykin (9) and Kopp; Miller, Collins (7), Jackson (8) and Serrano.
HR: Wilson (BC) 5th, one on; Scott (BC) 6th, none on
WP: Collins (1-0)
LP: McIver
Sv: Jackson (1)
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