SALEM, VA--The Roanoke College baseball team recorded its first win of the 2005 season with an 11-1 win over Southern Virginia University in the first game of a Saturday double-header in Salem, VA. After winning the first contest, the Maroons fell in the second 10-5. After splitting the two games, the Maroons are now 1-5 on the season.

A scoreless tie in the bottom of the second inning saw the Maroons strike for three runs in the frame. Nathan Unroe (Iron City, VA/Alleghany) singled to get the inning going and then moved to third on a double to left from Brandon Coates (Gladys, VA/William Campbell). One batter later, the Maroons took a 1-0 lead when a Robby Hoopes (Roanoke, VA/Northside) groundout was able to score Unroe from third. Two batters after Hoopes' RBI at-bat, the Maroons took a 3-0 lead on a two-run homer to leftfield from Kirby Hamilton.

Hoopes was again involved in the Maroon scoring in the fourth inning. Hoopes reached first when he got hit by a pitch in the lead-off at-bat. After a Josh Ringstaff (Abingdon, VA/Abingdon) single moved Hoopes to third, Mike Eubank (Roanoke, VA/Northside) grounded out to bring in Hoopes and make the score 4-1.

The Maroons manufactured a run in the fifth inning, with Ringstaff driving in Brandon Wilson (Smithfield, VA/Smithfield) with a flyball to left. The Maroons erupted for six more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, with Coates, Hoopes, and Ringstaff all adding to their RBI total.

Sophomore Chase Davidson (Vinton, VA/William Byrd) went the full seven innings for the Maroons on the mound, getting Roanoke's first win of the year. Davidson allowed just the one run, struck out six, and gave up just five hits, just one over the final four innings.

In the second game, the Maroons gave up runs in five of the seven innings in taking the 10-5 loss. Justin Bradley (Brookneal, VA/William Campbell) and Brennan Thacker (Forest, VA/Jefferson Forest) got the Maroons off to a good start, each scoring a run in the first to give RC a 2-0 lead. The Knights battled back to even the score at two in the second and then went up 4-2 in the third. In the fifth, the Knights extended their lead out to 6-2 and then got that lead out to seven, 9-2, with three more in the sixth.

Wilson and Unroe did their part to help the Maroons climb back into the game in the bottom of the sixth. Wilson reached on a Knight fielding error, and Unroe followed with a two-run homer, his second of the season. Trailing 9-4, the Maroons gave up another in the top of the seventh. In the last half-inning of the game, junior Kirk Dent singled in Wilson from third to make the final score 10-5.

The Maroons are scheduled to host Averett University in a 1:00pm nine-inning contest on Sunday afternoon in Salem, VA. The Maroons and Cougars have already met once this season, with Averett winning a 5-3 decision.