Box Score WILSON, N.C. — Maryville held off a N.C. Wesleyan rally in the bottom of the ninth inning to edge the Bishops 10-9 in USA South Conference action on Saturday at historic Fleming Stadium.
Maryville (14-16, 9-11 USA South) held what seemed to be a comfortable 10-5 advantage entering the bottom of the ninth. However, three consecutive walks on a combined 13 pitches helped N.C. Wesleyan (12-20-1, 9-13 USA South) gain some momentum. The Scots finally got a pop-up for the first out, and the second out came on a sacrifice fly to foul territory in left field. The Bishops kept the inning going with a Luis Palencia single, followed by Ciro Norzagaray's two-run single. J.J. Rodriguez added an RIB single to center to pull N.C. Wesleyan within one run, with the tying and winning runs on base.
Maryville right-hander Joe Jones came in to pitch in relief and got a strikeout to end the game and earn his first save.
The win sets up a rubber match Saturday as the two teams finish their three-game series at with a 1 p.m. game at Five County Stadium in Zebulon. N.C. Wesleyan won the opening game 5-3 on Thursday.
Maryville surged ahead with a five-run seventh inning that appeared to be more than enough run support. Down 4-3 through six innings, Garrett Gresham's RBI triple tied the game and Matt Jones' RBI double gave Maryville the go-ahead run. Nick Dean followed with a two-run homer and Zack Blonder added an RBI single to cap off a five-run, six-hit inning.
Although N.C. Wesleyan got one of those runs back in the eighth, the Scots tacked on two crucial insurance runs in the top of the ninth.
Maryville jumped on N.C. Wesleyan starter Spenser Ramsey in the opening inning. Gresham led off the game with a double, and he came around to score moments later on Jones' single to center. Jones later came home on a fielder's choice to give the Scots the early 2-0 lead.
N.C. Wesleyan trimmed its deficit in half in the second inning with a two-out rally started by Tyler Clark. After Clark reached on a single, he scored all the way from first — aided by a fielding error in right field — on James Kornegay's single. The Battling Bishops knotted the game at 2-2 an inning later with another two-out rally. A walk, a single and hit batter loaded the bases for N.C. Wesleyan. Maryville starter Seth Debity hit Lee Dunn to bring the tying run home. Debity, however, got out of further trouble by inducing a ground ball to get the force out at second base and end the inning.
Maryville briefly reclaimed the lead in the sixth inning on Blonder's RBI double before N.C. Weleyan answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Clark led off with a double, moved to third on a fly ball and scored on Kani Upshur's RBI single to tie the game at 3-3. Upshur gave the Bishops the 4-3 lead when he scored on a Palencia single to left field. N.C. Wesleyan had an opportunity to add more to its run total but Maryville got out of the bases-loaded jam to end the inning only down one.
That proved to be beneficial for Maryville, who responded with the five-run seventh inning and had to hold off the Bishops' ninth-inning rally.
Right-hander Zack May (1-1) picked up the win in relief for Maryville. May allowed just two runs on three hits in 2.2 innings.
Ramsey (5-1) suffered his first loss of the season for N.C. Wesleyan.
Maryville's offense totaled 16 hits, including a 3-for-4 performance from Landon Talley. N.C. Wesleyan had 15 hits, including three each by Hayden Williams and Palencia.
