SHALLOTTE — Nolan Allen’s big day at the plate and solid pitching efforts from Evan Hudson and Cam Carraway helped the Richmond baseball team snap a three-game skid and earn a 4-1 win over Morehead in the first round of the Beach Diamond Invitational.
Allen, a senior, was responsible for three of the four runs in Monday’s win. He got Richmond on the board first with a one-run single in the bottom of the second inning, scored fellow senior Garret Richardson with a sacrifice fly in the fourth and then cracked an RBI double in the sixth to put the finishing touches on the team’s first win in almost two weeks.
Hudson and Carraway, both seniors, combined for five strikeouts, four hits and three walks on the mound.
“We were able to get some people on base today and be a little more aggressive,” head coach Ricky Young said. “Evan and Cameron pitched well and kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win.”
The bottom of the third is where the Raiders (16-6) took a two-run lead, thanks to a base hit by senior Brett Young that eventually led to an RBI single from Carraway. As a team, they finished with eight hits.
Morehead (10-11) scored its only run in the top of the fifth inning — after falling behind by three runs — on an RBI single from freshman catcher Hayden Friese, who ended the game 4-for-4 with two hits. The Panthers’ other two hits in the first-round matchup were courtesy of junior outfielder Logan Dodson and senior second baseman Noah Yeatts.
Richmond will now play the winner of West Brunswick-Maiden in the second round on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.