D-I Update for Opening Day (Friday, Feb 14)

I don’t promise to do this every day, but the excitement of the opening day for Division I baseball got me poring over boxscores… so let’s take a look at former Valley Leaguers who performed well yesterday.

This is not a comprehensive list- please keep that in mind. If I’ve missed someone who rocked it yesterday, drop me a line.

• Dayton’s Hunter Wolfe (Strasburg 2017) threw 7 dominating innings against Wagner. He allowed 2 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, and struck out 14.
• UNCW’s Noah Bridges (Covington 2018) hit a double and home run in their opener.
• Wofford’s Jake Hershman (Charlottesville 2018) threw 4 2/3 shutout innings in relief against Binghamton, while striking out 5 and walking none.
• Elian Merejo (Harrisonburg 2018) hit two doubles and a home run for Georgia State in his team’s 9-8 victory over Cincinnati. He also drove in 3 runs and scored 3.
• Houston’s Lael Lockhart (Woodstock 2019) struck out 6 batters in 4 2/3 innings against Youngstown State.
• VCU’s Brandon Henson (Strasburg 2019) hit two home runs and walked twice in the Rams’ 17-5 shellacking of Charlotte.
• Hogan Brown (Strasburg 2018), also from VCU, had three hits in that same game.
• Ryan Kennedy (Winchester 2018) threw 5 shutout innings for Kennesaw State against St. John’s.
• Ari Sechopoulos (Charlottesville 2017) hit a home run for Charleston while walking once, driving in two, and scoring three runs in a 5-4 win over Iona.
• Stephen Baughn (Strasburg 2018) went 4-4 for Norfolk State, with a home run, two runs, and four RBIs against Wagner.
• Loyola Marymount’s Trevin Esquerra (Purcellville 2017) picked up where he left off in 2019, going 2-2, with 2 runs, 2 RBIs, a home run, and two walks.

Ari

Wolfe

Hershman

Bridges

Esquerra