WISE, VA. - The Queens University of Charlotte baseball team (29-20, 17-7 SAC) capped off their regular season by sweeping UVA Wise (18-32, 6-18 SAC) on Saturday afternoon. The weekend sweep was historic as it secured the No. 3 seed for the Royals in the upcoming South Atlantic Conference tournament next week. The Royals will be making their first tournament appearance in the program's young history facing off with No. 4 seeded Lenoir-Rhyne University on Friday, April 29 at 6:30 p.m. As top four seeds, Wingate (1), Newberry (2), Queens (3), and Lenoir-Rhyne will each receive a bye.
 
Game 1: Queens 9, UVA Wise 3
The Royals dominated the Cavaliers in game one of the doubleheader, outhitting the hosts 15-6. Dillon Lewis was incredibly effective at the plate, going 4-for-5 on the day. Carter Foster, Mason Pickard, and Matt Riley each had multiple hits on the day as well. Foster and Pickard picked up the lone extra-base hits, as both had doubles on the afternoon. Zach Kelly picked up the win on the mound for the Royals, throwing seven complete innings, allowing just two hits with no earned runs and five strikeouts. The seven inning performance tied Kelly's longest outing of his career as the Southport, N.C. native has not gone that deep into the game since 2019.
 
After a scoreless first inning, the Royals would push across the first run of the game in the second inning. After a double play, the Royals would conjure up a two-out rally. Mason Pickard would be hit by a pitch before MJ Sasapan singled putting runners on the corners. Carter Foster would step in and deliver an RBI-single pushing across the first run of the game for the Royals.
 
The Royals would go to their small ball approach to plate another run in the third. After a leadoff single by Riley Cheek, a bunt and a wild pitch moved him over to third with one out. Nick Brassington would ground into a fielder's choice, scoring Cheek on the play.
 
The Cavaliers would push across their first run of the game in the fourth as a walk and an error put runners on first and second with no outs. Two consecutive fielder's choices scored the runner from second for the Cavaliers.
 
The sixth inning would prove to be a turning point for the Royals, as they exploded for six runs extending their lead to 8-1. Two consecutive one-out singles were followed by a Mason Pickard double into the right-center field gap scoring one Royal. A balk by the Cavalier pitcher would score the next runner for the Royals before Mason Pickard came in on a wild pitch.
 
Later in the inning, a two-out walk by Carter Foster put another runner on base for the Royals. He would advance to third on a wild pitch. Nick Melton would then line a pitch right back up the middle, for an RBI single. Melton would then steal second and score on a throwing error. Matt Riley would drive in the sixth and final run of the inning on an RBI single back up the middle.
 
In the eighth, Matt Riley would hit a two-out RBI single to score Carter Foster after his leadoff double. The Cavaliers would conjure up a rally in the eighth inning, plating two runs on four hits, however, a double play and a groundout to the shortstop limited the damage to just two runs.
 
In the final frame, the Royals would surrender a two-out walk but a fielder's choice would secure the 9-3 win for the Royals.
 
Game 2: Queens 9, UVA Wise 7
Game two was a thrilling back and forth matchup that was originally scheduled for only seven innings, but the game went a full nine after the game remained tied after seven innings.
 
Nick Melton and Nick Brassington belted home runs on the day. With his home run, Brassington brings his season total to 16, tied for the most in the conference. Overall, the Royals' bats remained hot in game two as they totaled 15 hits again, with six players having multi-hit performances. Tanner Jacobson pitched five complete innings, allowing three earned runs with seven strikeouts.
 
In the top of the first, the Royals would strike first on a Dillon Lewis RBI double. The Cavaliers would respond right back, with two runs in their half of the first on an error and an RBI single. With runners on first and second with one out, the Cavaliers extended their lead to 3-1 on an RBI double.
 
Nick Brassington would belt his three-run home run over the left field fence, giving the Royals a 4-3 lead. The Royals offense would not slow down there. In the following inning, Nick Melton would hit a two-run home run over the left field fence extending the Royals lead to 6-3.
 
In the fifth, following a leadoff single, Garrett Evans would lace a double into left field scoring another run for the Royals. The Cavaliers would begin to claw back, however, as they pushed across two in the fifth on a two-RBI single. The Royals would threaten in the sixth, putting a runner in scoring position but two consecutive strikeouts would end the threat.
 
A two-out double with a runner on first, scored the first of two runs in the bottom of the sixth for the Cavaliers. On the very next at-bat, a single into center would tie the ballgame at 7-7 heading into the last frame. Both the Royals and Cavaliers would be set down in order, as the shortened game headed to "extra" innings.
 
A leadoff double by Nick Melton in the top of the eighth put a runner in scoring position for the Royals. He would tag and advance to third on a flyout to center. An infield single by Matt Riley would put runners on the corners for the Royals but a pop out in the infield and a groundout to third ended the threat. The Cavaliers would put a runner in scoring position but a lineout to left fielder Nick Brassington would conclude their scoring opportunity as the game went into the ninth.
 
In the ninth, MJ Saspan would smack a one-out double down the right field line. On the following at-bat, Mason Pickard would lace an RBI single into left field, and he would advance to second on the throw home, and then to third on the errant throw by the catcher. A sacrifice fly by Garrett Evans plated the insurance run for the Royals, as they took a 9-7 lead into the bottom frame.
 
A hit by pitch, a walk, a wild pitch, and another walk loaded the bases with two outs for the Cavaliers. Nick Charleson would come in to record the final out for the Royals, picking up the save on the groundout to first base as the Royals secured the sweep.
 
Queens will return to action next Friday, April 29 as they square off against No. 20/22 Lenoir-Rhyne University in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament. More information, including ticket prices will be released in the coming days on Queens Athletics. The tournament schedule is posted below, or can be accessed on the South Atlantic Conference website.
 
Be sure to follow the baseball program on Twitter and Instagram. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics on social media @QueensAthletics, to stay up to date with all of Royals' Athletics.
 

Thursday, April 28 (at Kodak, Tenn.)
#5 Catawba vs. #8 Mars Hill, 4:30pm 
#6 Lincoln Memorial vs. #7 Carson-Newman, 7:30pm

Friday, April 29 (at Kodak, Tenn.)
#1 Wingate vs. lowest seed from GM 1 & 2, 11:00am
#2 Newberry vs. highest seed from GM 1 & 2, 2:45pm
#3 Queens vs. #4 Lenoir-Rhyne, 6:30pm

Saturday, April 30 (at Kodak, Tenn.)
GM 3 loser vs. GM 4 loser, 11:00am
GM 3 winner vs. GM 5 loser, 2:45pm
GM 4 winner vs. GM 5 winner,6:30pm

Sunday, May 1 (at Kodak, Tenn.)
GM 7 winner vs. GM 8 winner, 11:00am
GM 6 winner vs. GM 8 loser, 2:45pm
GM 10 winner vs. GM 9 loser, 6:30pm

Monday, May 2 (at Kodak, Tenn.)
GM 9 winner vs. GM 11 winner, 12:00pm       
if necessary, 3:00pm