MILLINGTON, Tenn. – This afternoon the 14^th ranked Webster University baseball team took the field for the first time this season when they traveled to Millington, Tennessee, to take on the Piedmont (Ga.) University Lions for their first game of the 2022 Rhodes Classic. The Gorloks defeated the Lions by a final score of 3-2 to improve to 1-0 on the season.

The Gorloks got off to a great start in this one as they jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Matt Staker scored on a Zach Goodman double. The Gorloks added to their lead in the bottom of the third when Ben Swords hit his first homerun of the season to give Webster a 2-0 advantage. The Lions answered with runs in the top of the fourth and the top of the seventh to tie the score at two late in the game. However, Matt Staker executed a squeeze bunt play scoring Parker Wielt in the bottom of the ninth to solidify the Gorloks first win of the season.

Jordan Smevoll was the starting pitcher in this one as he allowed three hits and two earned runs while striking out eight batters in 6.0 innings on the mound. Ben Kowalski (1-0) came in to relieve Smevoll and was able to pick up his first win of the season after allowing just one hit while striking out five in the final three innings of the contest.

Offensively, Matt Staker led the way with two hits, an RBI, and a run scored. In addition, Parker Wielt went 2-for-3 with a run scored, Ben Swords went 1-for-3 with a solo homerun, and Zach Goodman went 1-for-3 with an RBI to round out the top performers for the Gorloks.

The Gorloks return to the field tomorrow, February 19^th when they travel to Memphis, Tennessee, to take on the Augustana (Ill.) University Vikings in their second game of the Rhodes Classic. First pitch is set for 10:30 a.m. at Rhodes College.