FIRST PITCH
Score: Queens 5 | Jacksonville 4
Records: Queens (7-37 overall, 5-17 ASUN) | Jacksonville (26-17 overall, 15-7 ASUN)
Location: The Stick (Charlotte, N.C.)
 
The Short Story:
In a tightly contested ASUN battle on Friday night at The Stick, the Queens University of Charlotte baseball team took down Jacksonville University behind timely hitting and shutdown pitching. Four Royals turned in multi-hit games, including Logan Schmitt, who blasted his first career home run, while Ryan Brown locked down the Dolphins offense out of the bullpen.

HOW IT HAPPENED
-Jacksonville jumped on the Royals in the top of the first inning with one run on two hits. Jonah Shields and Josh Steidl laced back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners. Blake Delamielleur brought home the games first run with an RBI ground out to shortstop.
-Following a brief 30-minute delay due to lightning, Queens came out swinging in the bottom of the third lacing three hits. The inning was highlighted by Logan Schmitt belting his first career home run to tie the game 1-1.
-Jacksonville responded in the top of the fourth inning with a run on two hits. Blake Delamielleur led off the inning with a single to left field before swiping second. The speedster took third and set up an RBI single down the right field line from Aidan Masters to give the Dolphins a 2-1 lead.
-In the bottom half of the inning, Queens answered right back as Justin Hudson uncorked on an 0-1 pitch and sent it over the left field wall. Will Budnick followed the big swing with a double to right center. Queens turned to small ball as Tyler Peters dropped a sacrifice bunt to advance Budnick to third and Lenox Lively drove in the run with a ground out to second.
-The visiting Dolphins answered right back in the top of the fifth inning with two runs on three hits. Cade Hentz led off the frame with a double to left center and Jaden Bastian followed with a single to left field to put runners on the corners. Bastian stole second to put a pair in scoring position and Jonah Shields capitalized with a two-run single through the left side.
-Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Will Budnick got the inning started with a double down the right field line. Tyler Peters dropped down a sacrifice bunt and reached on a fielding error by the Dolphins pitcher. With runners on the corners, Ryan Brown sent a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Budnick and tied the game 4-4.
-Jacksonville turned to their bullpen in the bottom of the seventh and Queens took advantage. Veteran Nick Alderfer laced a one-out double down the left field line before Anibal Rivera brought home the go-ahead run with an RBI single to center field.
-In the top of the ninth inning, Ryan Brown sat down the first two Dolphins via the strikeout before a Royals error prolonged the game. Jacksonville tried to capitalize by swiping second and putting the tying run in scoring position, but the freshman right-hander remained poised and picked up the strikeout to secure the 5-4 win for the Royals.

BY THE NUMBERS
-Logan Schmitt stayed hot at the plate going 2-for-3, including his first collegiate home run. The senior has a hit in his first three outings at the plate.
-Two-way star Ryan Brown turned in his sixth multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-4 night. Brown came onto relief out of the bullpen and shut down the Dolphins with 4.0 scoreless innings and seven strikeouts to match his season-high.
-Charlotte native Will Budnick drove a pair of doubles in the gap as part of a 2-for-4 night at the plate. The multi-hit performance was the senior's 10^th on the season, the second most on the team.
-The power bat of Justin Hudson delivered a 1-for-4 night at the plate, including his seventh home run of the season. The junior drove in his team-leading 23^rd RBI.
-Veteran Nick Alderfer posted his ninth multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate, including his third double of the season.
-Jake Barbour and Anibal Rivera rounded out the Royals offense with a base hit each. Rivera extended his hitting streak to four straight games.
-Southpaw Joey Ruller got the ball on Friday night and tossed 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out three Dolphins.
-The ASUN Preseason Pitcher of the Year, Richard Long, started for the Dolphins and turned in 6.0 innings, allowing three earned runs on nine hits.
-Queens sprayed 11 hits on the night, marking the eighth game this season the Royals have totaled double-digit hits, and the first since March 23^rd.

NEXT UP
Queens and Jacksonville will return to the diamond on Saturday, May 3^rd at 4:00 p.m. Fans can listen to the action on the Queens Sports Network.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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