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BURLINGTON, N.C. — Fourth-seeded Shenandoah University defeated No. 5 Greensboro College 6-0 in the opener of the USA South Conference Tournament on Thursday morning at Burlington Athletic Stadium.
Shenandoah (29-6) got a complete-game effort on the mound from sophomore Greg Van Sickler (6-2), who threw a complete-game, four-hit shutout to give the Hornets their first conference tournament victory in three seasons. Van Sickler finished with eight strikeouts.
In the third inning, Greensboro (16-20) gave up two-out walk to Jon Holcomb, who later advanced to third on Kevin Brashears’ single to right field. That led to Shenandoah’s first run of the game when Brashears stole second base and Holcomb stole home on the throw.
That was all the run support needed by Shenandoah, which advanced to play Greensboro or N.C. Wesleyan College at 12 p.m on Friday. Greensboro plays No. 1 seed N.C. Wesleyan later Thursday at 8 p.m.
The Hornets added three more runs in the fifth inning with the help of several Pride errors. Shenandoah scored one run on a bobbled ground-ball single to left field to go ahead 2-0. The Hornets doubled their lead when Greensboro attempted to pick Holcomb off at third as Brashears stole second, but the throw hit Holcomb and skipped into the bullpen in left field, allowing both runners to score.
Shenandoah added two more runs in the seventh.
Greensboro’s Ryan Laboy led off the top of the ninth with a double to right-center field, but Van Sickler got out of the inning unharmed to earn his first career shutout.
