WILSON, N.C.-Junior Chris Rawlings reached base four times and drove in Barton College's only run of the series but second ranked Mount Olive College completed a three-game Conference Carolinas sweep with an 8-1 victory at a cold Nixon Field Saturday.
Rawlings was 2-for-2 with a double and two walk for the Bulldogs, who fell to 12-20 overall and 5-8 in the conference. The shortstop from Charlotte, N.C., ended a 21 inning scoreless drought for Barton with an infield single in the fifth. Rawlings grounder was stopped by a diving third baseman but he easily beat the throw to first as senior Jordan Smith (Longmont, Colo.) scored.
The Royal Blue and White stranded 13 base runners Saturday including bases loaded opportunities in the first, fourth and seventh innings. BC left a total of 28 on base the three-game set.
The Trojans – ranked No. 2 nationally by both the NCBWA and ABCA – have won 10 straight to exit town boasting a 27-3 overall record and a conference-best 13-1 league ledger.
Mount Olive scored three runs in the top of the first and never trailed. Senior Dan Hayduk (Brown Mills, N.J.) put the Trojans on the board with a single and junior Daniel Coffey (Granite Falls, N.C.) followed two batters later with a two-run single down the right field line.
The visitors scored a total of eight runs on 13 hits. Hayduk led all players with three base knocks. Senior Jason Simone (Utica, N.Y.) tied Coffey with two RBI.
Junior starter Pete Levitt (Chesapeake, Va.) improved to 5-2 on the season tossing the first six innings. The right-handed, 6-foot-5 hurler allowed one run on six hits and six walks while striking out six.
Barton junior counterpart Bentley Massey (Wilson, N.C.) continued his quality work since moving into the weekend rotation but suffered the loss. Massey (3-4) scattered 10 hits over seven innings and allowed four runs while fanning three Trojans.
The Bulldogs registered three doubles off the bats of Rawlings, junior Ryan Daughtry (Princeton, N.C.) and freshman Collins Cuthrell (Rocky Mount, N.C.).
For the weekend, BC batted .207 with two outs and .130 with runners in scoring position.
Barton will try to bounce back in a home non-conference doubleheader against Shaw University on Thursday beginning at 1 p.m.
