Box Score HAMPTON, Va. – The Apprentice School's Brent Byrum hit a two-run, walk-off single giving the Builders an 8-7 comeback victory over Tufts in college baseball action Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium.
Apprentice trailed 7-5 entering the bottom of the ninth, but rallied for three runs to win. Cody Hendrickson started it with a lead-off single, followed by a walk. Back-to-back base hits by James Williams and Dalton Dye (rbi) plated the first run, then Byrum followed with his game-winning hit.
The Jumbos (5-3) had led 5-1. They scored three times in the first inning sparked by a two-run single from senior 1B Nick Falkson. He was at center of the Jumbos' two-run third inning when he hit a one-out double and scored on a single by junior SS Will Shackelford. Junior CF Casey Santos-Ocampo also had a run-scoring single in the inning.
With a two-out, three-run homer by Maxwell Burcham in the fourth, the Builders rallied to tie the game at 5-5. Byrum had started the scoring in the inning for the hosts with an rbi base hit after Dye led off with a hit and stole second. The Builders had scored their first run in the opening inning when lead-off man Ismael Brito walked and eventually scored on a catcher's interference.
Tufts grabbed a 7-5 advantage with two runs in the sixth. Sophomore 2B Elias Varinos led off with a walk and scored on a double to left by senior 3B Tommy O'Hara. Falkson then delivered his third rbi of the game with a base hit to right. However, the Builders would come back a second time in their last at-bat.
Sophomore Spencer Langdon was nearly perfect in 3.1 innings of relief for the Jumbos. Freshman Jamie Weiss took the loss. Falkson went 3 for 5 with the three rbis and a run, while O'Hara was 2 for 3 with two runs and an rbi. Varinos scored twice.
Wesley Pierce was the winning pitcher in relief for Apprentice, allowing just one hit and a walk in 3.1 innings. Gevin Nixon finished 3 for 3 for the hosts, Hendrickson was 3 for 4 with a run, game-hero Byrum went 2 for 4 with three rbis and a run and Dye had two hits and two runs with an rbi.
The Jumbos play the final game of their spring trip on Sunday at Virginia Wesleyan. The Builders (18-8) host Bryant & Stratton on Wednesday.
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