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Box Score 2
by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C.-Senior Phillip Williams belted two home runs on offense and tossed a one-hitter over four innings from the mound to lead Barton College to a weather-shortened 13-1 victory over Shippensburg University Saturday afternoon in the second game of a baseball doubleheader at Nixon Field.
Mitchell Wheeler and Collins Cuthrell also homered in the rout, which was stopped after four complete innings of a scheduled seven-inning contest played in rain and snow. The win helped the Bulldogs (3-4) salvage a split of the doubleheader, as the Raiders (1-1) took game one, 8-4, in their season debut.
Williams broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the second inning of game two when he lined a 3-2 pitch from Shippensburg starter Shawn Patterson (0-1) over the fence in right field. He laced Patterson's final pitch of the day over the fence in right in the bottom of the third, capping a five-run inning. Wheeler started the scoring by driving in a pair of runs on a double to center, and Cuthrell followed with his home run to left.
The Bulldogs finished off the Raiders with seven runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by Wheeler's grand slam over the fence in right center.
Williams, meanwhile, faced the minimum number of batters through three innings. Shippensburg got its only hit of the contest when Cody Kulp doubled off the center field fence with one out in the fourth. Kulp moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Pat Kregeloh.
Williams, a preseason All-Southeast Region selection by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), walked two and struck out one in earning his first pitching decision of the year.
In the opening game of the doubleheader, Barton rallied from a 4-0 deficit with four runs in the bottom of the second inning to tie the contest, but Shippensburg scored a pair of runs in both the third and sixth innings to take the victory.
Jimmy Spanos had four hits to lead the Raiders, while Mike Marcinko drove in three runs. Most of the damage was done against Barton starter Kyle Norville (1-1), who gave up 10 hits and five earned runs over five innings.
Shippensburg, ranked fourth in the NCBWA preseason Atlantic Region Poll, opened the scoring in the top of the second, producing four runs on four hits and a Barton error. Singles by Kregeloh and Cal Hogan set the stage for Marcinko, who delivered a two-out, two-run triple into the right field corner. A throwing error from short allowed another run to score and extended the inning, and one batter later, Spanos produced the Raiders' second triple of the inning to drive in a fourth run.
Barton rallied right back in the bottom of the frame. The Bulldogs scored their first run when Wheeler singled, moved second on a walk drawn by Zac Crumpler and scored on a single to right center by Ben Williams. The next batter, Spiers Miller, cleared the bases and tied the game at 4-all with a home run to left field.
However, the Raiders quickly regained the lead, as Kregeloh led off the frame with a single and scored on a double to center by Tyler Shover. With two outs in the inning, Shippensburg added another run as Marcinko singled home Shover.
The Raiders tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth inning, getting RBI doubles from Spanos and Simon Beloff.
Kregeloh (1-0) earned the pitching victory in relief for Shippensburg, tossing four scoreless innings while allowing just one hit. He walked four batters and struck out one.
The two teams were scheduled to play a third game on Sunday, but that contest was cancelled. The Bulldogs are now slated to return to action on Tuesday, when they travel to Murfreesboro, N.C., for a doubleheader against Chowan at 1 p.m.
