No. 1 Shenandoah University took sole possession of first place in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference with a 9-5 win over Washington and Lee Thursday afternoon.
Shenandoah (32-4, 15-3 ODAC) now can clinch its fourth straight top seed at next week’s ODAC Tournament by splitting its ODAC doubleheader with Virginia Wesleyan Saturday afternoon.
W&L (23-12, 14-4) can earn the top seed by sweeping Emory and Henry Saturday combined with a VWC sweep over SU.
The tournament begins one week from today at City Stadium in Lynchburg.
The Hornets rode the long ball to the Thursday’s win over W&L – Robert Marcelle, Jake Loew and Donnie Forgacs hit solo home runs in the second, third and sixth innings, respectively, to lead a 13-hit attack.
Leading 5-2 following Forgacs’ first career home run in the sixth, Shenandoah pulled away with four runs on four hits in the seventh. Forgacs and Christian Rice had RBI singles before Nick Goode had a two-run double off the wall in center.
The offense was more than enough for junior Colin Morse (8-0). Morse tossed the first seven innings and struck out eight while allowing two runs on five hits and three walks.
Morse struck out at least one batter in every inning except the fourth, struck out the side in the second and retired nine of the final 11 hitters he faced.
Matt Burns pitched the next 1 1/3 innings, and after allowing the Generals to score three runs (two earned) on three hits, Tyler Hott got the final two outs to close out the victory.
Tom Concklin (6-3) took the loss for W&L. Concklin, the Generals winning pitcher in a 3-1 win over Shenandoah three weeks ago, allowed four runs on six hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings.
Tristan Baker had three hits and Loew, Marcelle and Forgacs two each. Loew’s home run was his team-leading 10th with Marcelle’s his second and the first for Forgacs.
Shenandoah completes ODAC play Saturday with a noon doubleheader versus Virginia Wesleyan.
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