Boxscore


PETERSBURG, Va. – Wayne Lewis (Sr./Charlotte, N.C.) scored the game-winning run in the ninth inning to push Saint Augustine's College past Virginia State University 8-7 Sunday, April 1, 2012 in a CIAA baseball contest at Colbert Field.

The victory was the sixth in eight contests for the Falcons, who took two of three games from the Trojans over the weekend. If the season ended Sunday, the Falcons would qualify for the CIAA Tournament, which begins in two weeks (April 19-21) at Colbert Field.

The Trojans (16-14 overall, 8-5 CIAA) committed five errors, none bigger than the pitching error in the ninth inning which allowed Lewis to score from second base and break a 7-7 tie. Lewis started the inning with a double to left field.

A single by the Trojans in the bottom of the ninth put the game-tying run on first base. The runner moved to third base on two groundouts, but Alex Di Dio (Jr./Newport News, Va) ended the game on a strikeout.

Clarance Ganus (Jr./Whiteville, N.C.) earned the win in relief while Di Dio got the save after holding the Trojans scoreless in two and one-third innings of work.  The save came one day after Di Dio hurled a one-hit shutout to beat the Trojans.

The Falcons won despite generating only seven hits compared to 13 for the Trojans, but the Falcons made their hits count. A two-run double by Alex Howard (Sr./Wilson, N.C.) pulled the Falcons within 4-2 in the fourth inning.  The Trojans scored in the bottom of the fourth for a three-run lead, but the Falcons tied the game in the fifth inning on a two-run single by Daveed Todd (Jr./Chicago, Ill.) and an error that scored Lewis.

The Falcons took their first lead at 6-5 in the sixth inning when Jeremy Wilkins (Jr./Smithfield, N.C.) scored on a wild pitch. They added another run in the seventh on Todd's RBI double for a 7-5 lead, but the Trojans tied the game with two runs in the same inning which set the stage for Lewis' run in the ninth inning.

Todd led the Falcons with three RBI on 2-for-5 hitting including a double, and Howard was 1-for-4 with three RBI and a double. Lewis doubled and scored two runs and Ariel Polanco (Jr./Harlem, N.Y.) also scored two runs.

The Falcons (14-25 overall, 8-5 CIAA) play again Tuesday at UNC Pembroke in a single nine-inning game in Pembroke, N.C. Game time is 5 p.m.