Virginia State University (3-1) moved up a spot to a #2 ranking among small HBCU schools as the Trojans welcome Bluefield State College (3-4) to Whaley Field at the VSU Ballpark for a four-game series with doubleheaders on both Saturday and Sunday. This will be the 20th meeting between the two teams on Saturday. The first pitch will be throw at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday and 12:00 p.m. on Sunday. If the Trojans can pull off a weekend sweep they will be off to the best start the school has seen since 2015 (7-1).
Weekend Schedule
Game One- Saturday, March 13
Bluefield State University at Virginia State
1 p.m. *Petersburg, VA *Colbert Field at VSU Ballpark
Projected Starter Game One: VSU RHP Jeremiah Hardy (1-0, 1.13 ERA)
Game Two- Saturday, March 13
Bluefield State College at Virginia State
3 p.m. *Petersburg, VA *Colbert Field at VSU Ballpark
Projected Starter Game Two: VSU RHP Andrew Riddick (1-0, 8.31 ERA)
Game Three- Sunday, March 14
Bluefield State College at Virginia State
12 p.m. *Petersburg, VA *Colbert Field at VSU Ballpark
Projected Starter Game Three: VSU P Robert Hatcher (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Game Four- Sunday, March 14
Bluefield State College at Virginia State
2 p.m. *Petersburg, VA *Colbert Field at VSU Ballpark
Projected Starter Game Four: VSU P Nick Woolfolk (0-1, 8.10 ERA)
Recapping Last Weekend
Virginia State will look to extend their home winning streak to seven games as the Trojans welcome Bluefield State to Whaley Field. VSU took all three games of the opening series against Lincoln University (Pa) to claim their first series win on opening weekend since 2015 as the Trojans move forward under the leadership of Merrill Morgan.
The Trojans took game one of the doubleheader in dramatic fashion topping the visiting Lions 3-2 as VSU made their home and season debut to the 2021 season. The Trojans were held to a goose egg until the bottom of the 7th inning when Joshua Tayman earned the season’s first RBI by drawing a bases loaded walk to score the Trojans their first run of the season scored by Carl Granderson. That same inning, Jeremiah Hardy drew a bases loaded walk as well as he proved how versatile a player he is by not only bringing home the tying run but also striking out 9 batters in his complete game victory thanks to a disgusting breaking ball. Joshua Tayman showed his veins are full of ice as he drove in the game-winning run in the bottom 8th frame with a single through the right side.
The second game of the day the Trojans wouldn’t waste any time getting on the board as they would score all 8 of their runs between the 2nd and 4th innings. Andrew Riddick picked up his first win of the season as he held the Lions scoreless over the first four innings. Aaron Harris and Cecil Henderson proved to be effective as they were about to bring in three runs apiece.
In game three, the Trojans showed why they deserve their #2 ranking as they were able to make quick work of the Lions scoring 11 runs over the course of three innings. Freshman Robert Hatcher had himself a day earning him his first career win as he was able to hold to Lions to just two hits along four strikeouts in his college debut. Harris, Tayman and Henderson all turned in a multi-hit games.
News and Notes
- The Trojans are seeing the ball pretty well right now as they now have four hitters uphold a .300 or better batting average.
- VSU has reached first base due to walks 29 times this season while only walking 14 of the opponents’ batters.
- Virginia State averages nine hits a game.
- Cecil Henderson and Joshua Tayman are legitimate threats at the plate as they average .500 batting averages and account for 11 of the teams 29 RBI.
- Freshman Emmett Jefferson is proving his efficiency early as he hit two in five at-bats.
- Skipper Merrill Morgan is confident in his weekend rotation of Jeremiah Hardy, Andrew Riddick, Robert Hatcher and Nick Woolfolk heading into the series as they combine for 19 strikeouts over the course of the season.
About Bluefield State College
It’s debatable in saying that the Big Blue are coming into this series hot. Although, they did win 3 of their last 4 games, they lost their last game by 20 points (20-1) which is almost identical to the loss VSU looks to bounce back from this past Tuesday (25-6). Offensively the Big Blue have been swinging for the fences hitting five homeruns on the young season despite the .190 team batting average. The Big Blue offense is led by Kevon Moxey who is responsible for two of BSC’s five homeruns while also maintaining a batting average of .308. Another key piece of the offense is CJ Cooper whose registered four hits over 12 at-bats. Defensively the Big Blue have three players with over five putouts and no errors in infielder CJ Cooper (8) who has also assisted on 11 outs, outfielder Shane Reviello (8) and outfielder Tanner Brandon (10) along with three assist. The best Bluefield State has to offer on the mound is Austin Stambaugh whose struck out eight in 15 innings of work. The Big Blue baseball team is led by Drew Bailey who is in his first season at BSC after four different coaching stops and a professional playing career.
Last Meeting
The Trojans slipped past the Lions 10-9 with a couple multi-hit games coming off the bats of Aaron Harris (3-3) and Kevin Russell (2-4). Darius Holeman was able to drive in the tying run on a fielder’s choice which brought Harris into score. That same inning, Carl Granderson would bring in the go-ahead run thanks to a sacrifice fly to bring Henderson in to score.