GREENSBORO, N.C. – Jackson Marcellus (Chapel Hill, N.C.) fanned 11 Bruins in a masterful start in game one for the Guilford College baseball team, who came away with a doubleheader split with Bob Jones University, winning the first game, 4-1, then falling 7-5 in game two on Saturday afternoon at McBane Field.
 
The Quakers earn a weekend series victory with the split, improving to 2-4 on the season. Meanwhile, BJU picks up their first win of the year with the game two win to improve to 1-9.
 
The 11 strikeouts for Marcellus was not just a career-high, but the most a Guilford pitcher has had in a single game since Adam Hart matched that mark all the way back on April 3, 2010 against Virginia Wesleyan. However, Hart reached that mark in 7.2 innings, while Marcellus required just 7.0 to reach that number.
 
The Bruins did not get a run until the seventh against the Quakers righty who completed his third-career complete game allowing just a single run on three hits, but most importantly he did not issue a walk or a HBP in the winning effort to move to 1-1. Henry Wallach got the ball for the guests and he also went the distance, allowing four runs, three earned on seven hits, three walks, and a hit batsman against two strikeouts to fall to 0-2.
 
Isaiah Hairston (High Point, N.C.) was the lone GC batter with multiple hits in the first contest, as he finished 2-for-2 with a two-run home run that accounted for half of the team's tallies. Michael Sumner (Mooresville, N.C.) and Carter Blum (McLeansville, N.C.) each contributed an RBI in the contest as well, with the former also scoring a run.
 
Evan Walker tripled and scored for the visitor's lone tally in game one, while J.C. Poe collected their other two hits to go with a sacrifice fly in the contest.
 
Jacob Ray (Burlington, N.C.) threw well in game two as well. He only lasted 5.0+ innings, allowing seven hits and a walk leading to three runs although only one of them was earned in a no decision. Both Logan Dotson (Eden, N.C.) and Ty Clark (Stoneville, N.C.) had blown saves in game two with the latter taking the loss to fall to 0-2. Mackenzie Ritter gave up five runs, four earned, on 11 hits and three walks, but he fanned five and did enough to get the win for Bob Jones to improve to 1-1. Noah Weaver picked up the final out to get the save for the guests.
 
Hairston picked up another two hits and an RBI in the second game. Blum and Ethan George (Burlington, N.C.) each also had multiple hits with Blum being the second of five separate Quakers with a run batted in in the contest.
 
Riley Ramsey collected three hits, finishing a home run shy of the cycle, scoring a run. Walker had two knocks and two runs scored while Sam Gonzalez also scored twice. Pablo Austin had a big hit for the guests with a three-run double.
 
GAME 1
Jackson Marcellus (Chapel Hill, N.C.) set the tone from the first pitch for Guilford striking out the side in both the first and third innings and facing the minimum number of batters across the first four frames. That gave the offense some time to get going and it would in the third. Devin Tonkins (Greensboro, N.C.) led off with a single and Carter Blum (McLeansville, N.C.) bunted him up to second. Tonkins then stole third and crossed the plate on an opposite-field single by Sumner as Guilford grabbed the lead.
 
The Quakers added some insurance runs in the fifth when Isaiah Hairston (High Point, N.C.) clubbed his second longball of the year, a two-run shot, to make the score 3-0 then a Blum sacrifice fly in the sixth made it a four-run advantage for the good guys.
 
That would be more than enough for Marcellus who finally allowed a run in the seventh when Evan Walker led off with a triple and J.C. Poe brought him in with a sacrifice fly a couple batters later. But Marcellus finished the job as the Quakers won game one, 4-1.
 
GAME 2
The Quakers wasted no time getting on the board in the second contest. After a scoreless top of the inning from Jacob Ray (Burlington, N.C.), Carter Blum (McLeansville, N.C.) singled, swiped two bags, and scored on a Michael Sumner (Mooresville, N.C.) double. 1-0 Guilford, just like that. They added extra tallies in both the second and third innings on an Adam Anderson (Gastonia, N.C.) RBI ground out and an Isaiah Hairston (High Point, N.C.) run-scoring single respectively, but ran into trouble in the sixth.
 
Bob Jones' offense, that had been dormant all day to that point, finally broke through on back-to-back doubles by Riley Ramsey and Evan Walker. Sam Gonzalez dropped down a bunt, likely with the intent of a sacrifice, but he beat it out anyways bringing a swift end to Ray's outing. Logan Dotson (Eden, N.C.) entered and got the first two outs on a comebacker and a strikeout before Cody Kirkpatrick nubbed one that just found the right spot behind the mound and in front of a charging Blum from second to score the run. To make matters worse, Blum in the do-or-die play, threw the ball away allowing Gonzalez to also score and even things at three.
 
Guilford grabbed the lead back in the sixth. Tanner Royals (High Point, N.C.) took a one-out free pass, took second on a wild pitch, took third on an Ethan George (Burlington, N.C.) infield hit, and came home on an infield hit by Blum that squibbed into no-man's land up the third-base line.
 
So, the Quakers had another chance to lock it down, but unfortunately, they could not. Chase Wade (Archdale, N.C.), who finished the sixth, remained in to start the seventh and gave up a leadoff double to Chad Bayne, he advanced on a groundout and after a GC pitching change to bring Ty Clark (Stoneville, N.C.) to the mound, Ramsey took his spot with a triple. New ballgame, nothing to worry about yet, as Clark struck out Walker, but he reached as the ball just got away from Aaron Williams (Mocksville, N.C.) enough behind the plate. Gonzalez then chopped one to George at third who came home with it, cutting down the go-ahead run for the second out. Unfortunately, J.C. Poe walked and Pablo Austin cleared the bases giving the Bruins the lead for just the second time all weekend.
 
GC got some good fortune as Nick Boles (Madison, N.C.) reached on an error and Collin McGuire (Wilkesboro, N.C.) brought him home on a single, but the hole was too deep as they fell, 7-5.
 
The Quakers return to the diamond for a single mid-week contest against Carolina University on Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 PM.
 
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