Box Score
by Kevin Buczek
MURFREESBORO, N.C.-Sophomore starter Duncan Everett and freshman reliever Ricky Jernigan combined for a complete-game shutout and the Bulldogs exploded for 16 runs on 18 hits and nine walks as Barton College coasted to a 16-0 NCAA Division II win over host Chowan University on a wet Hawkins Field Tuesday afternoon.
Senior designated hitter Phillip Williams was 3-for-5 with his third home run in the last two games to help Barton level its overall record at 4-4. Williams finished with four RBI.
Junior shortstop Dillon Rudio reached base six times as the Bulldogs leadoff batter. Rudio was 4-for-5 with two doubles and two walks. Rudio and junior first baseman Collins Cuthrell each scored three times.
Nine Bulldogs hit safely with third baseman Mitchell Wheeler going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Wheeler leads BC with a .556 batting average after extending his hit streak to six games to start his sophomore season.
All three Barton starting outfielders collected two hits apiece including sophomore right fielder Avery Harper, sophomore left fielder JT Bunce and junior centerfielder Phillip Cotten. Bunce has a four-game hit streak.
Everett picked up his first win of the season after tossing five shutout innings as the Bulldogs starter. Everett (1-1) allowed six hits and base runners in each frame but he wiggled out of each jam. The 6-foot-4 righty totaled four strikeouts. Jernigan gave up four singles in relief of Everett but kept the Hawks off the board to complete the combined shutout. Jernigan was credited with a save in his first collegiate appearance by not allowing a run in his four innings of work.
Barton jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the top of the first. The Bulldogs ripped six hits in the stanza with Williams launching a two-run bomb to the right field porch. Rudio laced a pair of doubles in the frame while sophomore second baseman Spiers Miller knocked in a pair of Bulldogs with his own two-bagger down the left field line.
The Bulldogs tacked on three runs in the second, five more in the fifth and one last one in the eighth. Senior catcher Alex Brann knocked in a Barton run with a single in the second and then drew a bases loaded walk in the fifth to finish with two RBI.
Chowan (4-11) totaled 10 hits but were held scoreless for a second time after stranding 11 Hawks on base.
The Bulldogs tallied a season-high 18 hits including freshman Chris Davis' first collegiate base knock.
Barton begins Conference Carolinas play with a three-game set at Coker College. The series kicks off with a single game in Hartsville, S.C., on Friday at 2 p.m., and is concluded with a doubleheader on Saturday at Noon.
