PETERSBURG, VA – The D'Youville University baseball team fell to Virginia State University on Wednesday by a score of 14-8.
 
RHP Kyle Blunt (Watford, Ontario) got the start on the mound for the Saints. Virginia State took an early lead after scoring a run off Blunt in the first inning.
 
DYU responded in the top of the second, taking a 2-1 lead thanks to RBI singles from 2B Alex Dzimian (Lakeview, N.Y.) and C Chris Neino.
 
In the top of the third, LF Ethan Hammond (Oakville, Ontario) led off the inning with a base hit and then stole second to set up an RBI double from SS Billy Morris (Lancaster, N.Y.). 1B Jon Simpson (Grand Island, N.Y.) followed with a base hit to advance Morris to third. DH Jeremy Glinski (Sloan, N.Y.) then drove in Morris with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1 Saints.
 
In the top of the fifth, Hammond once again led off the inning with a single and stolen base. Morris hit his second double of the game to drive in Hammond and make it 5-1. Glinski brought Morris across with an RBI single to extend DYU's lead to 6-1.
 
Virginia State started to chip away at DYU's lead in the bottom of the fifth, pushing across three runs off RHP Austin Delgado.
 
The Saints got one back in the top of the sixth thanks to a sacrifice fly from LF Nick DiCarlo (Lewiston, N.Y.), which was set up by singles from Neino and CF Caden Strobel (Pittstown, Pa.).
 
DYU's bullpen began to unravel in the bottom of the sixth, as the Trojans scored six runs off RHP Harrison Lough (Auckland, New Zealand) and RHP Zack Penner (Leamington, Ontario) to take a 10-7 lead.
 
The Saints saw an opportunity to get some runs back in the seventh after Simpson walked and 3B Blaise Kolbert (Lancaster, N.Y.) singled, but the next two batters couldn't bring them in.
 
In the top of the eighth, three straight singles from Strobel, RF Jake Hollins (Orchard Park, N.Y.), and DiCarlo loaded the bases with no outs. A sac fly from Simpson made it 10-8, but the Saints were unable to bring any more runs across.
 
Virginia State put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth after scoring four more runs to make it 14-8.