Logan McNeely and Clay Lockett each drove in two runs and reliever Ben Sieracki allowed no runs in four innings as the host Harrisonburg Turks beat the Staunton Braves 8-4 at Veterans Memorial Park on Thursday in the first of two games.
McNeely had two hits in his first two at-bats and drove in two runs in the third as Harrisonburg scored five runs to take a lead of 5-2. Lockett drove in two runs with a single in the fifth to give the Turks a lead of 8-4.
The starting lineup for the Turks in the first game was second baseman Carlos Marte (Elon, .277 average through Wednesday); left fielder Peyton Crispin (Oklahoma City, .207); catcher McNeely (Wingate, .286); right fielder Conor Hartigan (Virginia Tech, .254); first baseman Jordan Sweeney (Rutgers, .292); shortstop Bryce Safferwich (JMU, .189); center fielder Lockett (Southern Nazarene, .208); third baseman Frederic Walter (Oklahoma City, .205); DH Justin Wachs (Nova Southeastern, .143); and pitcher Will Carter.
Angelo Cabral and Andrew Ward threw well out of the bullpen and host Charlottesville took advantage of three Harrisonburg errors to beat the Turks 6-2 on Tuesday in Valley Baseball League action.
Cabral came on in the fourth and allowed just one run in three innings. Ward, a VCU pitcher from Troy in Fluvanna County, took over in the seventh for the first-place Tom Sox and also allowed one run in three innings.
Conor Hartigan had an RBI double and Jordan Sweeney (Rutgers) had a single to drive in Hartigan for a 2-0 lead in the first for the Turks.
Harrisonburg got a big night from its 2021 James Madison players as the Turks won 7-4 on Monday at Waynesboro in Valley Baseball League action.
Liam McDonnell (James Madison) started on the mound for the Turks and allowed just one run in six innings before Logan McClure took over in the seventh.
Conor Hartigan had an RBI single as the Turks scored three runs in the top of the third to take a 3-0 lead and he finished with three hits. Hartigan announced last week he was transferring from JMU to Virginia Tech.
Jordan Sweeney (Rutgers) had two hits and drove in four runs for Harrisonburg. Waynesboro scored three runs in the last of the seventh to trim the lead to 7-4. The Turks are now 18-18 while Waynesboro is 18-20.