Hampton, VA – On Wednesday night, the Regent University Baseball team went on the short road trip and delivered a dominating performance as they shut out Virginia Peninsula Community College in a seven-inning contest at Historic War Memorial Stadium, 11-0.  The Royals' pitching staff combined for a complete-game, one hit shutout, while the offense controlled the game scoring 11 runs on eight hits, highlighted by aggressive base running, as they finished the game with seven stolen bases.

Sophomore Austin Shackelford (Gloucester, VA) set the tone on the mound, tossing four scoreless innings to start the game. The right-hander faced 13 batters, allowing no hits, walking one, and striking out five with an efficient 57 pitches (37 strikes). His command kept the Gators off-balance from the jump, retiring batters in order in multiple frames and limiting any real opportunities they might have.

Relievers Freshman Caleb Wood (Glen Allen, VA) and Freshman Alexander Almanzar (Fort Lauderdale, FL) closed out the shutout as Wood struck out one in a clean frame, while Almanzar allowed just one hit and fanned another to seal the shutout. Together, the trio scattered one hit over six innings, struck out seven, and walked only one on the night. 

Offensively, Regent jumped ahead early and never looked back, scoring three runs in the first inning and kept the pressure on with multi-run frames in the third (2), fifth (4), and single tallies in the fourth and sixth.  The Royals were led by Junior Jayden Alvarez (Newport News, VA) who went 2-for-2 with two walks, two runs scored, two RBI's, and a stolen base, while Freshman Colton Sandiford (Seaford, VA) was 3-for-3 with a double, three RBI's, a run scored, and a stolen base. His two-RBI double in the first inning gave Regent an early lead they never relinquished.  Freshman James Blotter (Newport News, VA) contributed with a single, an RBI, two runs scored, two stolen bases, and a walk in a productive night, while also coming up with two run saving catches in the outfield and Freshman CJ Williams (Hampton, VA) delivered a key pinch-hit double in the fifth, for his first collegiate hit, and later came home to score. 

Regent will be back in action on Saturday, March 21st when they travel to Pennsylvania for a three-game series with Marywood University.  First pitch is at 12:00pm.