WILSON, N.C.-Junior Jeremy Peed tossed a five-hit complete game to lead No. 30 nationally ranked Limestone College into the championship game of the 2011 Conference Carolinas Baseball Tournament with a 6-3 victory over Barton College on Sunday afternoon at historic Fleming Stadium.
The second-seeded Saints (31-15) will play top-seed and No. 3 nationally ranked Mount Olive College in the championship game(s) on Monday at Noon. If Limestone defeats the Trojans, who are undefeated in the tournament, there will be a second championship contest that will start within an hour of the first games completion.
The Bulldogs (16-26) – who are co-hosts with the Wilson Tobs – entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed but upset No. 5 Erskine and No. 4 Pfeiffer to finish third.
Freshman left fielder Chad Balderman paced the Saints offensively reaching base in all four of his plate appearances. Balderman was hit by a pitch twice and knocked in the game's first run with a single in the first before driving in Limestone's final go-ahead run after being plunked with the bases loaded in the third. Balderman added a leadoff double in the sixth – the Saints only extra-base hit – that led to two insurance runs for the designated visitors.
Junior Zach Howard added a pair of RBI-singles to help Peed secure the victory. Peed (4-1) registered seven strikeouts and scattered five hits over nine innings of work. The righty retired 12 straight at one point in only his third start of the season.
Five different Bulldogs accounted for BC's five hits. Freshman Mitchell Wheeler tied the game 1-1 early with an RBI-double in the second. The Bulldogs pulled within one at 4-3 in the third on a double by senior Jordan Smith, who then scored on a groundout by junior Ryan Daughtry.
Sophomore starter Kyle Norville tossed a gutsy 6 2/3 innings after throwing 108 pitches against Mount Olive on Thursday in BC's first tourney contest. Norville (3-5) was tagged with the loss allowing just three earned runs while striking out four Saints.
BC's pitching staff entered the tournament with a 6.35 ERA but kept the Bulldogs in each tournament contest with a 3.65 combined ERA in the four postseason games. Junior shortstop Chris Rawlings had a single against Limestone to finish the tourney going a team-best 8-for-18 (.444).
