ETTRICK, VA – The Virginia State University baseball team (13-25) will see their regular season come to a close as they look for revenge against Salem University in a three-game series. The Trojans put an end to a nine-game losing streak against Bluefield State with a walk-off single in the bottom of seventh to score
Ricky Jones. The Trojans dropped the first game of the 4-game series 4-0 which made it the third straight game the Trojans were shutout. VSU came out the second game with a little more offense but less defense losing 8-3. The next day, the Trojans got started with a 9-1 loss before winning the last game of the series 6-5 on a walk-off infield single off the bat of
Jaylen Lovett. The VSU athletic staff and coaches will be honoring their seniors of the VSU baseball team prior to the first pitch on Saturday.
The super freshman, Tahruan Hammond currently leads the team in a host of categories such as batting average (.364), at-bats (121), runs (35), hits (44), walks (27), doubles (12), on-base percentage (.533) and on-base slugging percentage (1.044). Hammond also has a lively arm on the mound as the reliever has accounted for 22 strikeouts while giving up just 16 hits.
Dawsyn Hock maintains a batting average of .360, which ranks him second on the team. He has had four games this season where he batted 1.000 with more than one at-bat in the contest.
Opposing teams plan to play the fence against
Ricky Jones with his.353 batting average, which ranks him third on the team. Jones leads the squad in home runs (5), total bases (69), slugging percentage (.580), RBI (28), and triples (2). He has collected 11 multi-hit games this season. After a five-game hitting slump for the slugger, he earned a hit in three of the last four games to include a single that scored two runs to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh inning and later came around to score the game winning run against Bluefield State.
The Trojans currently have four players, who have at least 50 at-bats that maintain a batting average of .300 or better. The team bats .277 from the plate with an on-base percentage of .387.
The pitching rotation has allowed a respectable 6.57 earned runs per contest and have struck out 240 batters while walking just 151.
Nicholas Woolfolk and
Grayson "Cole" Spain are proven to be a two-headed monster on the mound as Woolfolk leads the team with six wins while maintaining an impressive 3.04 ERA in 68.0 innings while Spain leads the team with 80 strikeouts. Teams hit just .241 against Woolfolk and bat just .188 against Spain. The two combined for the first no-hitter recorded since the 2019 season. Spain earned a career-high and record-breaking 13 strikeouts in the walk-off win against Bluefield State. On six separate occasions, Woolfolk has given up no more than two earned runs while pitching five innings or more this season. Woolfolk is ranked within the top-30 in the country in innings pitched. Spain has his name all over the country's pitching statistics as he ranks within the top-50 in the country in innings pitched with 56.0 and ninth in strikeouts per nine innings with 13.59. He also ranks within the top-20 in strikeouts with 80.
Andrew Riddick proves to be a solid midweek starter as has earned a pair of wins with 24 strikeouts and only 18 walks.
Avante Banks leads the infield with 120 put outs so far this season while also maintaining a .294 batting average.
Ricky Jones is a vacuum in the outfield as well with 84 put outs on the season with no errors.
Tahraun Hammond has assisted on the most outs on the team this season with 67, making amazing diving stops and throws from his knees from his shortstop position.
Weekend Schedule
Saturday - Sunday, April 30 - May 1
Virginia State vs. Salem University
Day One: 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. *Ettrick, VA *Whaley Colbert Field
Day Two: 12:00 p.m.
About Salem
The Tigers of Salem University are 14-31 overall this season after dropping five-straight to Shippensburg and Millersville. The last games the Tigers won was against VSU earlier in the month. Prior to the losing-streak SU won eight of 10 games. They look earn their first road wins of the season as they are currently 0-17 when they play outside of Nutter Fort, West Virginia. Offensively, Tigers puts the bat on the ball at a decent clip hitting .287 with a .393 on-base percentage and boast 20 home runs. Salem has driven 230 runs home with a .400 slugging percentage. Scott Kondroik leads the team with a .359 batting average, 1.071 OPS, 46 hits, 14 doubles, two triples, ties for first on the team with five homeruns, 33 RBI and a .617 slugging percentage. The Tigers pitching rotation gives away 8.71 earned runs per contest while allowing 370 runs with 311 strikeouts this season. Teams have accumulated 472 hits against the rotation this season and collectively bat .332 against them. Jaryd Lund and Frankie Cleary are the aces of the rotation as Lund leads the team with 78 strikeouts and four wins while Cleary leads the team in innings pitched with 68.1. Cleary earned a team-high 12 strikeouts against Bluefield State.
Series History
The Trojans are 14-9 against the Tigers in matchups dating back to 2012. VSU looks to end the five-game losing streak against SU, which came in their four-game sweep of VSU earlier this season and a loss in 2021. However, the Trojans went on a nine-game winning streak against the Tigers from to 2013 to 2019. The Trojans look to improve upon their 9-3-1 home record against Salem.
Next Five Matchups
