WASHINGTON, Pa. --- Senior James Walsh (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) threw a three-hit shutout with a career-high 15 strikeouts as second-ranked and second-seeded Randolph-Macon blanked seventh-seeded St. Joseph's (Long Island) 8-0 Wednesday evening in the first round of the Mideast Regional of the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament at Ross Memorial Park.

The Yellow Jackets (33-6-1) will play third-seeded Wooster at 7:45 p.m. The Golden Eagles (24-12) will face sixth-seeded Johns Hopkins at 1:15 p.m. in an elimination game.

It was the first NCAA Tournament victory for R-MC in program history. The Yellow Jackets were 0-8 in their previous four NCAA tourney appearances.

Walsh (10-0) was dominant, facing just three hitters over the minimum. He retired the first 17 batters before surrendering a single up the middle. Walsh allowed three hits, all singles, and did not walk a batter. He fanned each St. Joseph's hitter at least once. Along with his 15 strikeouts, Walsh had 10 groundouts and just two flyouts. Walsh set a program record with 10 wins in a single season.

R-MC started the scoring in the second as senior Nick Maiolo (Powhatan, Va./Powhatan) reached on an error to lead off the inning and scored on a one-out double by senior Michael Trentham (Midlothian, Va./James River) to make it 1-0.

The Yellow Jackets a run in the third as freshman Jeffrey Butler (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) had a leadoff double and scored on a groundout by senior Travis Lodge (Chesterfield, Va./Matoaca) to make it 2-0.

Trentham reached on an error in the fourth and scored on an error as the lead grew to 3-0.

Sophomore Rick Spiers (South Chesterfield, Va./Matoaca) started the fifth with a bunt single to third. The errant throw to first went into the right field corner and Spiers came all the way around to score to give the Yellow Jackets a 4-0 lead. Maiolo homered later in the frame, his seventh of the season, to push the advantage to 5-0.

In the seventh, Lodge and Maiolo had RBI doubles and senior Mitchell Keeler (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) added a run-scoring single as the Yellow Jackets extended the lead to 8-0.

Maiolo went 2 for 4 with three runs and two RBI to lead the R-MC offense, while Lodge also knocked in a pair for the Yellow Jackets. Lodge extended his hit streak to 17.

--- This release is courtesy of the Randolph-Macon College sports information department. ---
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