After losing their first five games of the season, the Rams have really begun to turn the season around. To go from 0-5 to 6-9 is a great way to begin the reversal of your season. After having their doubleheader on the 16th of March postponed, Wheeling Jesuit and Shepherd headed to Toledo, Ohio to play another scheduled twin-billing at Toronto High School in Toronto, Ohio.
In the first game of the double header, the Rams would turn on the offense in the top of the third inning. Center Fielder Michael Lott walked, and then stole second base. Lott scored following first baseman Jake Cook’s single. Right Fielder Kyle Porter doubled, which allowed Cook to advance to third. Catcher Chad Murphy would record a sacrifice fly, allowing Cook to touch home to make the score 2-0 in favor of the Rams. Left Fielder Ryan Messina would single, allowing Porter to score.
Wheeling Jesuit would not get onto the scoreboard until the bottom of the fourth inning. Second Baseman Zane Hull singled to begin the inning. Hull would advance to second on an error. He would be knocked home by first baseman Patrick Ammar’s single later in the frame.
Shepherd would add another two runs in the top of the fifth inning. After lead-off walks from both Kyle Porter and Chad Murphy, Brandon Coffey reached on a fielders choice, which saw Murphy be out at third base. Designated hitter Tyler Thomas would then single which scored Kyle Porter. Third baseman Mark McCormick singled which saw Coffey come all the way home. Pitcher Paul Hvozdovic pitched all seven innings for the Rams, allowing four runs on seven hits. The WVIAC Pitcher of the Week also struck out nine.
In the second game on the day, first baseman Jake Cook went one-for-four but added two RBI, center fielder Michael Lott went-two for-four, catcher Chad Murphy went two-for-four with a run scored, while shortstop T.J. Weisenburg went two-for-three with a run scored. Davis Hall picked up the win for the Rams, tossing 7 innings of four hit, one run baseball. He walked two and fanned five.
The Rams traveled down I-81 to take on the Concord Mountain Lions this past week. Center fielder Michael Lott, first baseman Jake Cook and left fielder Ryan Messina all paced the Rams by going two-for-four on the day, with Lott and Cook scoring one run a piece while Messina added two RBI. Catcher Chad Murphy would go zero-for-two at the plate, but he walked once, recorded an RBI and managed to score two runs. Paul Hvozdovic took the loss for the Rams, after tossing six innings of eleven hit ball. He allowed six runs, but only four of them were earned.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Shepherd Rams got back to their winning ways. Michael Lott, Kyle Porter, Chad Murphy and Mark McCormick all scored runs for the Rams, while Lott added an RBI to go along with two walks. Murphy and Messina recorded an RBI a piece while designated hitter Brandon Coffey also recorded an RBI. Davis Hall threw six innings worth of five hit ball. He gave up three earned runs and struck out five.
The Rams have improved to 9-10 overall, but are now more importantly 5-1 in WVIAC play. Shepherd will host Charleston for two games and West Liberty for three before heading out to take on Ohio Valley University in Vienna, West Virginia.